Reading Cristal Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by Nichole Monroe
Summary: Girl!Harry, Part two of the series. Read as Cris and the gang read about her second year. People from the future show up too. Will Draco realize that he is on the wrong side in time or will he follow his father? Read and find out. Cris/Twins
1. Prologue

When everyone got up the next morning and after breakfast they gathered back around to begin reading the next book that they were suddenly blinded by some light. When the light dimmed down they saw a small group of people. There was a woman she looked a lot like Remus but without the scars. There were two people as well, a boy with bright blue hair and amber eyes and a girl with bright red hair green eyes.

"Robin!" Sirius and Remus shouted. Sirius had jumped up and hugged and to everyone but Remus' kissed her and whispered something in her ear and she nodded.

"Not to be rude or anything but what is going on Siri?" Cris asked.

"I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to meet you Cris, my name is Robin Lupin, I am Remus' twin sister as well as Sirius' girlfriend at the moment." Robin said.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had someone?" Cris asked a little hurt.

"I wanted you to meet her but I wasn't sure when that would be pup." Sirius said. Cris smiled and jumped up and hugged him.

"So who are the other two?" Ron asked.

"We are from the future." The boy said.

"I'm sure the note from my brother explained that someone from the future would be coming." The girl said.

"I think I do remember the note saying that." Remus said.

"So what are your names?" Ginny asked.

"Well my name is Teddy Remus Lupin," Teddy said. This caused Remus' eyes to widen and his mouth to fall.

"And my name is Lily Jade Potter-Weasley," Lily J said. Cris smiled and she smiled at the twins. But Sirius glared at the twins.

"How old are you guys and what year are you guys from?" Bill asked.

"I'm 19 and Lily is 15 and we are from the year 2017." Teddy said.

"Who is your mother?" Remus asked for the first time.

"I think that may be obvious, Moony." Sirius said.

"I'm your mother, aren't I?" Tonks asked. Teddy nodded and immediately he was tackled by his mom with a bear hug.

"Hey, that means we're family Moony." Sirius said. He clapped Remus on the shoulder and Remus just nodded looking slightly guilty.

"You're not a werewolf, are you?" Moony asked the question that was on Remus' mind.

"Nah, I just get a little bit cranky during the full moon." Teddy said. That seemed to calm Remus down enough to stand up and go over and hug his son. Lily J was still smiling so Cris stood up and hugged her.

"How many kids do I have?" Cris asked. This caused everyone to perk up and listen.

"Depends, biological or all together?" Lily J asked.

"Let's start with biological and then all together." Fred said. Lily J nodded and turned back to Cris.

"Well there's five of us with one on the way," Lily J said.

"Six?" Sirius asked, he glared over at the twins who were cowering under the animagus' gaze.

"Yeah, but mom says after this one then she is done. But all together there are thirteen, seven are godchildren." Lily J said.

"So whose children are the godchildren?" Lily asked her granddaughter.

"Well two are Uncle Ron's and Aunt Hermione's," Teddy answered.

"Finally!" shouted most everyone.

"What!" Ron and Hermione shouted.

"Three are Aunt Ginny and Uncle Neville's" Lily J said. This caused both of them to turn red while Ginny's brother's turn to Neville with a glare.

"You got our little sister pregnant three times?" Bill said with a glare.

"If it helps, they were married for three years before they had their first." Teddy said.

"And all of you threatened poor Uncle Neville at least once." Lily J said.

"Alright, at least that counts for something." Charlie said.

"So not to ruin the family moment or anything but what are we doing here?" Robin asked.

"We are reading about my life." Cris said with a scowl as everyone sat back down again. Robin sat in between Remus and Sirius, Teddy sitting next to Tonks and Lily J sitting next Fred and Remus.

"So, whose reading first?" Teddy asked.

"I am," Mr. Weasley said.

"Wait, you didn't tell us who the other two godchildren of Cris are." Sirius said.

"I'm one, and the other one is Keiran." Teddy said.

"Who's Keiran?" Sirius asked.

"Keiran is your son." Lily J said with a smile. Sirius' eyes widen then smiled and kissed Robin.

"We might as well tell everyone." Robin said.

"Tell everyone what?" James and Padfoot asked.

"That Robin is pregnant." Sirius asked. Mrs. Weasley jumped up and hugged them but Remus smiled and hugged both of them.

"I never thought I would be a father," Padfoot said.

"Nobody did," James said.

"Well can we start the book now?" Moody growled. Mr. Weasley picked up the book and looked at the title.

"**Cristal Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."**

"The Chamber is real?" James asked.

"Very real," the trio and Ginny said. Ginny had grown pale and Ron hugged her before Mr. Weasley started.


	2. Chapter 1: The Worst Birthday

"**Chapter 1: The Worst Birthday," **read Mr. Weasley.

"Can we please skip this?" Cris asked.

"No, I think Fred, Ron and I want to know why you had bars on you window." George said.

"You mean to tell me that you weren't exaggerating?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Why would we exaggerate something like that?" Fred asked. Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened and Sirius sighed rubbing his face.

"I don't like were this is going." Sirius said. Robin grabbed his hand and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

**Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive. **

"Is their ever a time that there isn't a fight?" Ron asked.

"No, well maybe when I'm not there." Cris said.

"Just so we don't get confused any time, can I go by Lily J?" Lily J asked.

"I like that, it's cute." Ginny said.

"You were the one that started the nickname." Teddy said. Ginny blushed but Cris gave her a smile.

"So we can call my daughter Lily J and my mom Lily, I am happy you ended up with the red hair." Cris said.

"Wait till you meet my twin." Lily J said.

"I have a set of twins?" Cris asked dazed.

"Yep, with being with dad and papa it is kind of a given." Lily J said.

"Which one is dad and which is papa?" Fred asked.

"You are papa," Lily J said pointing at Fred.

"Out of curiosity, which one is your father?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Mom said that it really doesn't matter which one is our father so we just call both of them our father." Lily J said.

"Can we please continue?" Percy asked. Mr. Weasley then picked up where he left off.

**Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from their niece Cris' room. "Third time this week!" he roared across the table. "If you can't control that owl, it'll have to go!" **

"He is threatening to get rid of Hedwig?" Lily asked.

"It isn't the first time," Cris mumbled.

**Cris tried yet again to explain. **

**"She's bored," she said. "She's used to flying around outside. If I could just let her out at night..."**

**"Do I look stupid?" snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy moustache.**

"Is that a trick question?" Lily J asked.

"I don't think he's helping his point any." James said. Many of the people around the room chuckled.

**"I know what'll happen if that owl's let out." He exchanged dark looks with his wife, Petunia. Cris tried to argue back but her words were drowned out by a long, loud belch from the Dursley's son, Dudley. **

"Eww," said the girls in the room.

**"I want more bacon." **

"How about a please," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I don't think that would work, Dudley never had any manners to begin with." Cris said with a disgusted look on her face.

"What is my sister teaching him?" Lily asked.

"Absolutely nothing, they think he is prefect." Cris said with a disgusted face still.

**"There's more in the frying pan, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia, turning her misty eyes on her massive son. "We must feed you up while we've got the chance ... I don't like the sound of that school food ..." **

**"Nonsense, Petunia, I ever went hungry when I was at Smeltings," said Uncle Vernon heartily. "Dudley gets enough, don't you, son?" Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over either side of the kitchen chair **

"Dear God, in their efforts to spoil their son, they might kill him." McGonagall said.

"Don't I know it," Cris said with a slight smile on her face thinking of the diet that her fat cousin was now on.

**, grinning and turned on Cris. "Pass the frying pan." **

**"You've forgotten the magic word," said Cris irritably.**

"I could have phrased that better," Cris said with a grimace.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Mr. Weasley can you keep reading?" Cris asked. Mr. Weasley nodded and continued.

**The effect of this simple sentence on the rest of the family was incredible: Dudley gasped and fell off his chair with a crash that shook the whole kitchen; Mrs. Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands to her mouth; Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples. **

**"I meant "please"!' said Bella quickly "I didn't mean-"**

"That's all it takes?" Hermione asked.

"Pretty much," Cris said.

**"WHAT HAVE WE TOLD YOU," **

"For Merlin's sake, he is overreacting." Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's obvious that she meant please." Lily said.

**thundered her uncle, spraying spit over the table, "ABOUT SAYING THE 'M' WORD IN OUR HOUSE?" **

"M word?" asked most people in the room.

"Magic, then Hogwarts, witch, wizard and wand. I'm not allowed to say any of those words in their home." Cris said.

"Now that is just plain stupid," James said.

**"But I-"**

**"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!" roared Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his fist. **

**"I just-" **

**"I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLEREATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITY**

"Abnormality? They are the ones that are abnormal." James said.

"Don't I know it," Cris mumbled.

**UNDER THIS ROOF!" Cris stared from her purple-faced uncle to her pale aunt, who was trying to heave Dudley back to his feet. **

**"All right" said Cris "all right," Uncle Vernon had sat back down, breathing like a winded rhinoceros and watching Cris closely out of the corners of his small, sharp eyes.**

**Ever since Cris had come home for the summer holidays, Uncle Vernon had been treating her like a bomb that might go off at any moment, because Cris wasn't a normal girl. **

"Who wants to be normal anyway?" Padfoot asked.

"My lovely relatives," Cris answered.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Sirius.

"Siri, it's not your fault. Everyone has their rash moments, yours was justified." Cris said.

"When did you get so smart?" Sirius asked. Cris shrugged her shoulders so Mr. Weasley continued reading.

**As a matter of fact, she was as not normal as it is possible to be. Cristal Potter was a witch - a witch fresh from her year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. **

Everyone either smiled or cheered.

**And the Dursley's were unhappy to have her back for the holidays. **

"I wasn't happy either," Cris said.

"They do anything too bad did they?" Lily asked.

"Not really for the first couple of weeks," Cris said.

**, it was nothing to what Cris felt. She missed Hogwarts so much it was like a constant stomach ache. She missed the castle, with its secret passageways and ghosts, her lessons**

"Why the lessons?" Ron asked.

"Because, I found them fascinating, and I couldn't do my homework either." Cris said.

"It'll explain," Cris said with a sigh.

**(though perhaps not Snape, the Potions master.) **

"Who would?" the students asked except Malfoy.

**, the post arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in her four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting the gamekeeper Hagrid, in his cabin in the grounds next to the forbidden forest and, especially, Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding world (six goalposts, four flying balls and fourteen players on broomsticks). All Cris' spell books, her wand, robes, cauldron and top-of-the-range Nimbus two thousand broomstick had been locked in the cupboard under the stairs by Uncle Vernon the instant Cris had come home. What did the Dursley's care if Cris lost her place in the house Quidditch team because she hadn't practiced all summer? **

"I see what you mean," Hermione mumbled.

"No wonder you rushed to finish it on the train from what you started at the Burrow." Ron said.

"Plus, Oliver wouldn't kick you off the team, you're too good." George said. Cris smiled and kissed George and turned to kiss Fred. Lily J and Teddy smiled at each other; their parents/godparents were truly in love.

**What was it to the Dursley's if Cris went back to school without any of her homework done? **

"If you would have explained it then at least I would give you some time to finish it, I don't know about Severus though." McGonagall said.

"I would just think that you were just trying to get even more attention and take points away and give you detention." Snape said. Cris glared at the potions master and before any fighting broke out Mr. Weasley continued reading.

**The Dursley's were what wizards called Muggles (not a drop of magic blood in their veins) and as far as they were concerned, having a wizard in the family was a matter of deepest shame. **

"They should be proud of you, not disgusted." Moody said.

"My parents were proud." Lily said. Hermione nodded and Mr. Weasley continued.

**Uncle Vernon had even padlocked Cris' owl, Hedwig, inside her cage, to stop her carrying messages to anyone in the wizarding world. Cris looked nothing like the rest of the family. **

"Thank god for that," most people said.

"Can you imagine if I looked related to them?" Cris asked.

"I would immediately kill myself or at least find a way to change my appearance." Fred said.

"Thanks, I love you too." Cris said with frown. The twins chuckled and hugged her to them.

**Uncle Vernon was a large and neckless, with an enormous black moustache; Aunt Petunia was horse-faced and bony; Dudley was blonde, pink and porky. **

"Sounds like you live in a zoo." Charlie said.

"Feels like it sometimes." Cris said with a smile.

**Cris, on the other hand, was small and skinny, with brilliant green eyes and jet-black hair that was always untidy. **

"I hate it sometimes, the only time I was able to do anything with it was at the ball." Cris said.

"Yeah, I think the both of us had problems with our hair." Hermione said.

"And yet, some people didn't even recognize you two." Ron said.

"And you were one of them." Ginny said to her brother.

**She wore round glasses,**

"When did you get rid of them?" James asked.

"I got contacts, I asked Madame Pomfrey but she said that the eye correction potion wouldn't work, so before school started I went to the eye doctors and got contacts." Cris said.

"You look better than you do with the glasses on." George said.

"Do any of you wear glasses?" Fred asked Lily J.

"James, Remus and Ryker do. Connor doesn't along with me." Lily J said.

"I named my son after Remus?" Cris asked.

"Yep, James' middle name is Sirius so you have all the marauders covered." Lily J said.

"Have we told you the gender of the new baby?" Cris asked. Everyone else looked curious as well.

"A little girl, it took you guys forever to pick out a name." Teddy said.

"And what name did we pick out?" George asked.

"Sasha, but we won't say the middle name." Lily J said.

"What about the boys, what are their middle names?" Sirius asked.

"We'll tell you later, but can grandpa continue reading?" Lily J asked. Mr. Weasley smiled and continued.

**and on her forehead was a thin lightning-shaped scar. **

**It was this scar that made Cris so particularly unusual, even for a witch. **

"Can we please skip this part?" Cris asked.

"No, we will read it, I doubt Lily J or Teddy know the whole story." Mr. Weasley said.

"Mom skipped over a lot of it." Lily J said with a smile identical to the twins'.

**This scar was the only hint of Cris' very mysterious past, of the reason she had been left on the Dursley's doorstep eleven years before. At the age of one, Cris had somehow survived a curse from the greatest dark sorcerer of all time, Lord Voldemort, whose name most witches and wizards. Still fear to speak. Cris' parents had died in Voldemort's attack, but somehow – nobody understood why – Voldemort's powers had been destroyed the instant he failed to kill Cris. So Cris had been brought up by Cris' dead mother's sister and her husband. She had spent ten years with the Dursley's, never understanding why she kept making odd things happen without meaning to, believing the Dursley's' story that she got her scar in the car crash that killed her parents. And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Cris. And the whole story came out. Cris had taken up her place at wizard school, where she and her scar were famous... **

"Well that is a very condensed version of the story." Sirius said.

"But I wish I didn't have the scar or was famous, I just want to be me." Cris said.

"And we want you to be you," Sirius said. Cris smiled at her godfather and Mr. Weasley continued reading.

**but now the school year was over, and she was back with the Dursley's for the summer, back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly. **

"Bet that was fun," Ron mused.

"A little bit," Cris said with a shrug.

**The Dursley's hadn't even remembered that today happened to be Cris' twelfth birthday. Of course, her hopes hadn't been high; they'd never given her a proper present, let alone a cake – but to ignore it completely... **

"I've had plenty of good birthdays since then." Cris said. She smiled at the Weasley's who smiled back at her.

"We need to throw her a surprise party for her sixteenth." Sirius whispered to Robin and Remus. They nodded with a smile and Mr. Weasley said.

**At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said "Now, as we all know, today is a very important day." Cris looked up, hardly daring to believe it. **

"I wouldn't try to believe it if I were you." Sirius said.

"It was a good try though." Cris said.

**"This could be the day I make the biggest deal of my career," said Uncle Vernon. Cris went back to her toast. Of course, she thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party. He'd been talking of nothing else for a fortnight. Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon's company made drills). **

"I hope it doesn't work out." Sirius growled.

"I second that," a lot of people said. Cris smiled but then it fell thinking about what happened afterward.

**"I think we should run through the schedule one more time," said Uncle Vernon. **

"Schedule?" Sirius asked.

"They don't approve of imagination, remember?" Cris said.

"I'm sorry," a lot of people grimaced.

"Hey, I've survived this long, haven't I?" she asked with a grin.

**"We should all be in position at eight o'clock. Petunia you will be-?"**

**"In the lounge," said Aunt Petunia promptly, "waiting to welcome them graciously into our home." **

**"Good, good. And Dudley?"**

**"I'll be waiting to get the door." Dudley put on a fool, simpering smile. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"**

**"They'll love him!" cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.**

**"Excellent, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Cris.**

Cris grimaced slightly, thinking about the reactions of the people in the room.

**"And you?"**

**"I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I don't exist," said Cris tonelessly .**

"I'm so going to get those people." Remus growled.

"On a full moon perhaps?" Sirius asked.

"Only if I have taken the Wolfsbane," Remus said.

"What's Wolfsbane?" the marauders from the past asked.

"It's a potion that allows me to keep my mind while I transform on the full moon." Remus explained.

"When does it come out?" Moony asked excitedly. Remus looked over at Sirius and Robin and over at the teachers.

"I think it may have been '79 or '80." Robin said.

"I still have a while to wait then." Moony said.

"Trust me; it's a well worth wait." Remus said. Moony nodded and Mr. Weasley went back to reading.

**"Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight fifteen-"**

**"I'll announce dinner," said Aunt Petunia. "And Dudley, you'll say-" **

**"May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an invisible woman. **

**"My perfect little gentlemen!" sniffed Aunt Petunia. **

**"And you?" said Uncle Vernon viciously to Cris.**

**"I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I don't exist," said Cris dully. **

Animal growls were heard throughout the room.

**"Precisely. Now we should aim to get in a few good complements at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?" **

**"Vernon tells me you're a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason ... Do tell me where you bought that dress, Mrs. Mason ...?" **

**"Perfect Dudley?" **

**"How about: 'We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason and I wrote about you'" **

Laughter was heard in the room.

"Have they even met?" Tonks asked.

"No," Cris gasped out through her giggles. More laughter filled the room.

**This was way too much for both Aunt Petunia and Cris. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, while Cris ducked under the table so they couldn't see her laughing. **

**"And you, girl?" Cris fought to keep her face straight as she emerged. **

**"I'll bed in my room, making no noise and pretending I don't exist," she said. **

Glares and growls were directed to the book in Mr. Weasley's hands.

**"Too right you will," said Uncle Vernon forcefully. "The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back in the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I'll bring the subject around to drills. With any luck, I'll have the deal signed and sealed before the News at ten. We'll be shopping for a holiday home in Majorca this time tomorrow." Cris couldn't feel too excited about this. She didn't think the Dursley's would like her any better in Majorca than they did in Privet Drive.**

"I don't think they would let me come anyway, I'll probably go to Mrs. Figg's." Cris said.

**"Right – I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you," he snarled at Cris, "you stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning." Cris left through the back door. It was brilliant, sunny day. She crossed the lawn, slumped down on the garden bench and sang under her breath, "Happy birthday to me ... happy birthday to me ..."**

Everyone burst into song which caused Cris to blush and hide in George's shoulder.

"So that's where Ryker and Connor get it from." Lily J said.

"Get what from?" everyone asked.

"The 'I don't like attention blush'. James, Remus and I well," Lily J started.

"They like to play pranks. It helps when your fathers are the owners of the greatest joke shop in the England Wizard community." Teddy said.

"Zonkos isn't the greatest anymore?" Padfoot asked sadly.

"Nah, Weasley Wizard Wheezes is ten times better." Lily J said.

"Are you just saying that because we are your fathers?" Fred asked with a smile.

"No, absolutely not, even if you weren't I would still say that it's great." Lily J said with a smile.

**No cards, no presents, and she would be spending the evening pretending not to exist. She gazed miserably into the hedge. She had never felt more lonely. More than anything else at Hogwarts, even more than playing Quidditch, Cris missed her best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. **

"We missed you too." Hermione said. Ron nodded while muttering under his breath.

**They, however, didn't seem to be missing her at all. Neither of them had written to her all summer, **

"Why didn't you guys write?" James asked frowning.

"We did, something was just preventing us from writing." Hermione said.

"What stopped the letters then?" Remus asked.

"You'll find out next chapter." Cris said.

**even though Ron had said he was going to ask Cris to come and stay. Countless times, Cris had been on point of locking Hedwig's cage by magic and sending her to Ron and Hermione with a letter, but it wasn't worth the risk. Underage wizards weren't allowed to use magic outside of school. Cris hadn't told the Dursley's this; she knew it was only their terror that she might turn them all into dung beetles that stopped them locking her in the cupboard under the stairs with her wand and broomstick.**

Growls were heard again.

**For the first couple of weeks back, Cris had enjoyed muttering nonsense under her breath and watching Dudley tearing out of the room as fast as his fat legs would carry him. **

"Let the prankster out!" the twins shouted.

"Don't, that's just what we don't need." McGonagall said. Lily J smiled, thinking of her headmistress' feelings to her and her brothers' pranks.

**But the long silence from Ron and Hermione had made Cris feel so cut off from the magical world that even taunting Dudley had lost its appeal – and now Ron and Hermione had forgotten her birthday.**

"Damn elf," Ron muttered.

"What elf?" everyone asked.

"Just wait," Hermione said.

**What would she give now for a message from Hogwarts? From any witch or wizard? She'd almost be glad of a sight of her arch-enemy, Draco Malfoy, **

"Thanks Potter, I'm touched." Malfoy sneered. Cris looked over at him with a look that made him recoil.

"All I wanted was to make sure that it was all real." Cris said.

"It was real, if only Dobby hadn't tried to stop you from going than our letters would have gotten through." Ron said.

"You didn't get anything?" Remus asked kind of sadly.

"No, you sent me something, didn't you?" Cris asked. Remus nodded and everyone looked at him.

"It was a picture that we took the day of your first birthday. You had cake everywhere and in Sirius' and your father's hair." Remus said. Sirius and Robin laughed.

"I remember that," Sirius said with a large smile on his face.

"Any way the picture was of you in your mum's lap with James looking over Lily's shoulder and a cake in front of you." Remus said.

"We took more pictures of course; I think I have them in a lock box." Robin said.

"Can I see them?" Cris asked with a huge grin on her face.

"Of course Prongslet, after we are done here." Robin promised. Cris got up and gently hugged the pregnant woman in thanks.

**just to be sure it hadn't all been a dream ... Not that her whole year at Hogwarts had been fun. **

"Some of it was fun though." Cris said.

**At the very end of last term, Cris had come face to face with none other than Lord Voldemort himself. Voldemort might be a ruin of his former self, but he was still terrifying, still cunning, still determined to regain power. Cris had slipped through Voldemort's clutches a second time, but it had been a narrow escape, and even now, weeks later, Cris kept waking in the night, drenched in cold sweat, wondering where Voldemort was now, remembering his livid face, his wide, mad eyes. **

"Why didn't you tell us about the nightmares?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't want to trouble you." Cris mumbled. Everyone shook their heads, Cris is so stubborn, they thought.

**Cris suddenly sat bolt upright on the garden bench. She had been staring absent-mindedly at the hedge – and the hedge was staring back. **

"What was it? Death Eater?" Moody growled

"It was neither," Cris said with a grin.

**Two enormous green eyes appeared among the leaves. Cris jumped to her feet just as a jeering voice floated across the lawn. **

**"I know what day it is," sang Dudley,**

"Good for you, you've learnt the days of the week." James said sarcastically.

"Trust Dudley to remember the days of the week from the television." Cris said.

**waddling towards her. The huge eyes blinked and vanished. **

**"What?" said Cris, not taking her eyes off the spot where they had been.**

"Good thinking," Moody said nodding.

**"I know what day it is," Dudley repeated, coming right up to her. **

**"Well done," said Cris "you finally learned the days of the week."**

"We think the same!" James yelled with a smile.

"Shut it Prongs, I'm sure she doesn't want to think just like you." Moony said. Cris smiled and shook her head and Mr. Weasley continued.

**"Today's your birthday," sneered Dudley. "How come you haven't got any cards? Haven't you got any friends at that freak place?" **

"Of course she has." Growled the Weasley kids, Luna, Neville and Hermione. Cris smiled warmly at all of them before Mr. Weasley continued reading.

**"Better not let your mum hear you talking about my school," said Cris coolly. Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping down his fat bottom. **

"Not an imagine I want in my head, thanks Cris." Ginny said with a grimace.

"You're very welcome." Cris said with a big grin.

**"Why're you staring at the hedge?" he said suspiciously. **

**"I'm trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire," said Cris. Dudley stumbled backwards at once, a look of panic on his fat face. **

**"You c-can't – Dad told you you're not to do m-magic**

"He can't even say the word magic?" Padfoot asked shaking his head.

"It's kind of like people can't even say Voldemort." Cris said.

"Exactly," Padfoot said.

– **he said he'll chuck you out if the house – **

"That would be a good thing," Sirius said.

"That would be a welcome reprieve." Cris said rubbing her wrist.

**and you haven't got anywhere else to go – you haven't got any friends to take you-" **

"Of course she does." Snarled a lot of people.

**"Jiggery pokery!" said Cris in a fierce voice. "Hocus Pocus ... squiggily wiggly ..." **

"Did he think that they were real spells?" Bill asked laughing.

"Yep," Cris said but her grin was off of her face.

**"MUUUUUUM!" howled Dudley. Tripping over his feet as he dashed back towards the house. "MUUUUM! She's doing you know what!" **

**Cris dearly paid for her moment of fun. As neither Dudley nor the hedge was in any way hurt, Aunt Petunia knew she hadn't really done magic, but she still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at her head with a soapy frying pan. **

"SHE DID WHAT!?" yelled almost the whole room.

"It missed; it was kind of like dodging a bludger." Cris said.

"It is not, and you know it." Remus said looking pointedly at his cub.

"You know that this isn't right, right pup?" Sirius asked.

"I deserved most of it." Cris mumbled.

"No, no you didn't Cris, no one deserves this." Fred said. Cris shrugged and then Lily J switched places with her papa and cuddled into her mom. Cris smiled at her daughter and wrapped an arm around her.

**Then she gave her work to do, with the promise if she wouldn't eat again until she'd finished. While Dudley lolled around watching TV and eating ice-creams, Cris cleaned the windows, washed the car, mowed the lawn, trimmed the flowerbeds, pruned and watered the roses, re-painted the garden bench. **

"That is utterly ridiculous. She will not be returning." McGonagall said glaring at the headmaster.

"No she won't," Dumbledore said agreeing with his deputy headmistress.

"I can't believe that they treated you like a house-elf." Tonks growled.

"I'm fine you know, can we just continue please?" Cris asked.

**The sun blazed overhead, her hair sticking to the back her of neck. Cris knew she shouldn't have risen to Dudley's bait, but Dudley had said the very thing Cris had been thinking herself ... maybe she didn't have any friends at Hogwarts...**

Now Cris was in the center of a sandwich, being squished by all sides before they released for the need to breathe.

**Wish they could see famous Cristal Potter now, she thought savagely,**

Many people chuckled fondly at her.

**as she spread manure on the flowerbeds, her back aching, sweat running down her face. It was half past seven when at last, exhausted, she heard Aunt Petunia calling her. **

**"Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!" Cris moved gladly into the shade of the gleaming kitchen. On top of the fridge stood tonight's pudding: a huge mound on top of the whipped cream and sugared violets. A joint of roast pork was sizzling in the oven. **

"Let me guess, you got none of that." Sirius growled. Cris didn't answer just looked down and played with her daughter's hair, relaxing her a bit.

**"Eat quickly! The Masons will be here soon!" snapped Aunt Petunia pointing to two slices of bread and a lump of cheese on the kitchen table. **

"No wonder you're so skinny!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"In the future mom has a great figure for being five months pregnant and in her fifth pregnancy." Lily J said.

"It might have to do with her job though LJ." Teddy said.

"What do I do?" Cris asked looking between her daughter and godson.

"You're an Auror, but at the moment you aren't doing anything, they don't want you to do anything." Lily J said.

"That's understandable," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I can't imagine being anything else." Cris said with a smile.

**She was already wearing a salmon-pink cocktail dress. Cris washed her hands and bolted down her pitiful supper. The moment she had finished, Aunt Petunia whisked away her plate. "Upstairs hurry!" **

**As she passed the door to the living room, Cris caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow-ties and dinner jackets. She had only reached the upstairs landing when the doorbell rang and Uncle Vernon's furious face appeared at the foot of the stairs. **

**"Remember, girl – one sound ..." Cris crossed to her bedroom on tiptoe, slipped inside, closed the door and turned to collapse on her bed. The trouble was, there was already someone sitting on it.**

"What?" everyone asked.

"Who was it?" Sirius asked.

"Read and find out," Cris said with a secret smile. Mr. Weasley handed the book to Luna who opened it and began to read.


	3. Chapter 2: Dobby's Warning

"**Chapter 2: Dobby's Warning,"** Luna read.

"Dobby, who is Dobby?" Padfoot asked. The trio smiled but didn't answer.

**Cris managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. **

"What's a house elf doing in your bedroom?" James asked.

"So it was really a house elf that casted that levitation charm?" Percy asked.

"Exactly, now that you believe that, will you so happen to believe the other stuff?" Cris asked.

"Not likely Potter," Percy snarled.

"A girl can hope." Cris said.

**Cris knew instantly that this was what had been watching her out in the garden hedge that morning. As they stared at each other, Cris heard the Dudley's voice from the hall.**

**"May I take your coats Mr. and Mrs. Mason?" The creature slipped of the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long thin nose touched the carpet. Cris noticed that it was wearing what looked like a pillowcase, with rips for arm and leg holes.**

"His master's must be very horrible." Lily said.

"They were," Cris said.

"What do you mean were?" Sirius asked. Cris gave her mischievous smirk but didn't answer.

"You are definitely your father's daughter." Remus said with a smile.

**"Er-hello," said Cris nervously.**

**"Cristal Potter!" said the creature, in a high-pitched voice Cris was sure would carry downstairs. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, miss ... Such and honor it is..." **

"Wow, even house elves cherish you." Mr. Weasley said.

"Yep, it's kind of annoying sometimes." Cris said.

**"Th-thank you," said Cris, edging along the wall and sinking into her chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her large cage. She wanted to ask, 'What are you?' but thought it would sound too rude, so instead she said, "Who are you?" **

"At least you're polite about it." Hermione said.

**"Dobby, miss. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature. **

**"Oh – really?" said Cris. "Er – I don't want to be rude or anything, but – this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom." Aunt Petunia's high, false laugh sounded from the living room. **

Lily, Snape and Cris shivered, that laugh can cause anyone to cringe.

**The elf hung his head. **

**"Not that I'm not pleased to meet you," said Cris quickly, "but, er, is there any particular reason you're here?"**

"Polite works better than ordering them around." James said.

"How would you know that?" Hermione asked with a glare.

"My family owns a couple." James said.

"Dad, now you've done it." Cris groaned along with Ron, the twins, Sirius and Remus.

"What did I do?" James asked.

"Do your house elves have sick leave, holidays or pay?" Hermione asked with a glare.

"Why would they have that, they like their work." James said. Before Hermione could continue her rant Cris signaled for Luna to continue.

**"Oh, yes miss," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, miss ... it is difficult, miss ... Dobby wonders where to begin..." **

"Just spit it out." Padfoot said.

**"Sit down," said Cris politely, pointing to the bed. To her horror, the elf burst into tears – very noisy tears, **

"Shut up Dobby!" cried most of the occupants. They were worried about the Dursley's.

**"S-sit down!" he wailed. "Never ... never ever..." Cris thought she heard the voice downstairs falter. **

**"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything." **

**"Offend Dobby!" chocked the elf. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a witch – like an equal –" Cris, trying to say 'Shh!' and look comforting at the same time, ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large ugly doll. At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Cris in an expression of watery adoration. **

"I hate the fact that everyone recognizes me with just a glance, its freaking annoying." Cris said.

"That's understandable." Remus said.

**"You can't have met many decent wizards," said Cris, trying to cheer him up. Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, **

**"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" **

"He almost insulted his masters. They aren't allowed to do that." James said.

"What happens when they do?" Lily J asked.

"We don't have house elves?" Cris asked.

"Well yeah, but I've never seen them try and insult anyone." Lily J said.

"Well, they punish themselves, its sad really." James said.

**"Don't – what are you doing?" Cris hissed, springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed. Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and was beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage.**

**"Dobby had to punish himself, miss," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill off his family, miss ..."**

"Dobby? As in our old house elf?" Malfoy asked.

"Yep, now everyone knows who he belonged to." Cris said.

**"Your family?"**

**"The wizard family that Dobby serves, miss ... Dobby is a house-elf – bound to serve one house and one family forever ..."**

**"Do they know your here?" said Cris curiously. Dobby shuddered. "Oh no, miss, no ... Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they knew, miss –"**

**"But, won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?"**

**"Dobby doubts it, miss. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, miss. They lets Dobby get on with it, miss. Sometimes they remind me to do extra punishments ..."**

Everyone glared at the only Malfoy in the room.

**"But why don't you leave? Escape?"**

**"A house-elf must be set free, miss. And the family will never set the family free ... Dobby will serve family until he dies, miss ..." Cris stared. **

**"And I thought I was hard-done-by staying here for another four weeks," she said. **

"In a way you are, but I don't want to know what happens after this." Teddy said he looked over at his godmother, he now knew why she never talked about her home life.

**"This makes the Dursley's almost human. Can't anyone help you? Can't I?" Almost at once, Cris wished she hadn't spoken. Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude. "Please," she whispered frantically, "please be quiet. If the Dursley's hear anything, if they know you're here ..." **

**"Cristal Potter asks if she can help Dobby ... Dobby has heard of your goodness, Dobby never knew ..."**

**Cris who was feeling distinctly hot in the face,**

Everyone was now chuckling and Cris was now hiding her face in George's shoulder. The twins chuckled and pulled her to them since Lily J went back to her spot beside her papa and Remus.

**said, "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I'm not even top in my year at Hogwarts, that's Hermione she –"**

**But she stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful. **

"I'm sorry, if only we knew you weren't getting any of your letters then I would have badgered my parents into driving me over there." Hermione said.

"Mione, I honestly don't think that my aunt or uncle would let you into the house, they don't want to have any more _'freaky'_ people in the house other than me." Cris said with a scowl on her face.

**"Cristal Potter is humble and modest," said Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. "Crista; Potter speaks not of her triumph over He Who Must Be Named."**

**"Voldemort?" said Cris. Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears and moaned, "Ah, speak not the name, miss! Speak not the name!"**

**"Sorry," said Cris quickly. "I know lots of people don't like it – my friend Ron ..." She stopped again. Thinking about Ron was painful, too. **

"Sorry Bolt," Ron said.

"It's alright, Red." Cris said with a smile.

"What?" everyone asked.

"It's our nicknames, Cris' is Bolt, I'm Red and Mione is Mia. Don't ask how we came up with hers, Cris picked it." Ron said.

"It suits you three." Sirius said with a smile.

**Dobby leaned towards Cris, his eyes wide as headlamps. "Dobby heard tell," he said hoarsely, "that Cristal Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago ... that Cristal Potter escaped yet again." Cris nodded and Dobby's eyes suddenly shone with tears. "Ah, miss," he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Cristal Potter is valiant and bold! She has braved so many dangers already! But even Dobby has come to protect Cristal Potter; to warn her, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later ... Cristal Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."**

"WHAT!" everyone yelled.

"Why exactly is your house elf telling her that?" Sirius growled at Malfoy.

"Don't ask me, I have no answer. I also don't recall my parents sending their house elf to a Muggle house." Malfoy snarled.

**There was a silence broken only from a chink of knives and forks from downstairs and a distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice. "W-what?" Vris stammered. "But I've got to go back – term starts on September first. It's all that's keeping me going. You don't know what it's like here. I don't belong here. I belong in your world – at Hogwarts." **

**"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Cristal Potter must stay where she is safe. She is too great, too good, to lose. If Cristal Potter goes back to Hogwarts, she will be in mortal danger."**

"When am I not in danger?" Cris asked.

"Good point; you attract way too much danger." Sirius said.

"It's not my fault, most of the time." Cris mumbled.

"Sure it isn't Prongslet." Padfoot said with a big grin.

"You are so lucky that I don't have my wand Padfoot or I would curse you so bad you won't be able to see straight for a week." Cris said with a glare. Padfoot gulped and nodded while looking wide eyed at his future goddaughter.

"Trust me; she knows some really good ones." Ron said.

**"Why?" said Cris in surprise. **

**"There is a plot, Cristal Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, miss. Cristal Potter must not put herself in peril. She is too important, miss!"**

"I'm not," Cris mumbled, though it was heard by a lot of people.

"Yes you are," most of the group said. Cris just blushed and hid this time in Fred's shoulder.

**"What terrible things?" said Cris at once. "Who's plotting them?" Dobby made a funny chocking noise and then banged his head madly against the wall. **

**"All right!" cried Cris, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't say, I understand. But why are you warning me?" **

"Because you're you and you must know things." Ginny said with a small smile, she was obviously thinking about what is going to happen later on.

**A sudden, unpleasant thought struck her. "Hang on – this hasn't got anything to do with Vol – sorry – with You Know Who, has it? You could just shake or nod," she added hastily, as Dobby's head tilted worrying close to the wall again. Slowly Dobby shook his head. **

**"Not – not He Who Must Not Be Named, miss." But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Cris a hint.**

"It wasn't a very good hint," Cris mumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

"What does it mean hint?" Teddy asked.

"It'll explain, I think." Tonks said wrapping an arm around her son. Even though he is 19 he leaned into cherishing for the first time in his life that he could remember, being held by his mother.

"It will, I think it's after everything is over though." Cris said tapping her chin.

"You look just like Lily when you do that." Remus said with a small smile. Cris gave a big grin and Luna continued reading.

**Cris however was completely at sea. "He hasn't got a brother, has he?" **

"Merlin, I hope not, that would be all we need." Kingsley said.

"He doesn't, he was an only child." Dumbledore said.

**Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever. "Well then, I can't think who else would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," said Cris. **

**"I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one thing – you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?" Dobby bowed his head. **

**"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, miss. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those of He Who Must Not Be Named at the height of his strength. But miss," Dobby's voice dropped to an urgent whisper, "there are powers Dumbledore doesn't ... no decent wizard ..." And before Cris could stop him, Dobby bounded his head off the bed, seized Cris' desk lamp and started beating himself around the head with ear-splitting yelps. A sudden silence fell downstairs. Two seconds later Cris' heart thudding madly, heard Uncle Vernon coming into the hall, calling,**

"Crap, this is not good." Bill and Charlie muttered. Everyone was now worrying for Cris' safety.

**"Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!" **

**"Quick! In the wardrobe!" hissed Cris, stuffing Dobby in, shutting the door and flinging herself on the bed just as the door handle turned. **

**"What – the – devil – are – you – doing?" said Uncle Vernon through his teeth, his face horribly close to Cris'. "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese-golfer joke ... one more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, girl!" **

"Don't you dare touch a hair on her head." Sirius growled. Robin grabbed Sirius' hand and held it in order to calm herself and him down some.

**He stomped flat-footed from the room. **

**Shaking, Cris let Dobby out of the wardrobe. **

**"See what it's like here?" she said. "See why I've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place I've got - well, I think I've got friends."**

**"Friends that don't even write to Cristal Potter?" said Dobby slyly.**

"So he was the one stopping the letters." Robin said.

"Why would he do that?" Lily J asked.

"Wait and see." Cris said smiling at her daughter.

**"I expect they've just been – hang on," said Cris, frowning. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing to me?" Dobby shuffled his feet. "Cristal Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby – Dobby did it for the best ..."**

**"Have you been stopping my letters?" **

**"Dobby had them here, miss," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of Cris' reach, he pulled a thick was of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Cris could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper Hagrid, and writing she couldn't place. Dobby blinked anxiously up at Cris. "Cristal Potter mustn't be angry ... Dobby hoped ... if Cristal Potter thought her friends had forgotten she ... Cristal Potter might not want to go back to school, miss ..." Cris wasn't listening. She made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach. "Cristal Potter will have them, miss, if she gives Dobby her word that she will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, miss, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, miss!"**

"Cris is too damn stubborn to say no." Hermione said.

"You guys know me so well." Cris said with a big grin on her face.

**"No," said Cris angrily. "Give me back my friends' letters!" **

**"Then Cristal Potter leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly. Before Cris could move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open – and sprinted down the stairs.**

"No!" shouted most of the room.

"This is not going to end well is it?" James asked his daughter. Cris didn't answer, she looked down into her lap, Luna then decided to continue reading in her dreamy voice.

**Mouth dry, stomach lurching, Cris sprang after him, trying not to make a sound. She jumped the last six stairs, landing cat-like on the hall carpet, looking around for Dobby. From the dining room she heard Uncle Vernon saying, "... tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason, she's been dying to hear..." Cris ran up the hall into the kitchen and felt her stomach disappear. Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugar violets, was floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby. **

**"No," croaked Cris "Please ... they'll kill me ..."**

**"Cristal Potter must say she's not going back to school –"**

"He's trying to get you to so an oath." Remus said with a pale face.

"An oath?" Cris asked.

"It's similar to the contract when you name is picked for the Tri-Wizard Tournament." Robin said. Cris' eyes went wide and nodded in understanding, she didn't want to think about the tournament.

**"Dobby ... please ..."**

**"Say it, miss ..."**

**"I can't" Dobby gave her a tragic look. **

**"Then Dobby must do it, miss, for Cristal Potter's own good." The pudding fell to the floor with a heart-stopping crash. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered. With a crack Dobby vanished. There were screams from the dining room and Uncle Vernon burst into the kitchen to find Cris, rigid with shock, covered from head to foot in Aunt Petunia's pudding. At first it looked as though Uncle Vernon had glossed the whole thing over ("Just our niece – very disturbed – meeting strangers upsets her, so we kept her upstairs ...") He shooed the shocked Masons back into the dining room, promised Cris he would flay her to within an inch of life when the Masons left, **

"He didn't, did he?" Lily asked.

"Not to that extent." Cris mumbled.

"What exactly did they do them Bambi?" George asked, he was trying very hard to reign in his anger to the Dursley's.

"It'll tell you, but I know that you won't like it." Cris said. She was still looking away from anyone's eyes and clutched her left wrist with her hand. Remus noticed it and was really dreading what happened to it.

**and handed her a mop. Aunt Petunia dug some ice-cream out of the freezer and Cris, still shaking, started scrubbing the kitchen clean. Uncle Vernon might have still been able to make his deal – if it hadn't been for the owl. **

**Aunt Petunia was just handing round a box of after-dinner mints when a huge owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs. Mason's head and swooped back out again. Mrs. Mason screamed like a banshee and ran out of the house, shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed long enough to tell the Dursley's that his wife was mortally afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes,**

"You can't catch a break can you?" Charlie asked.

"It's been known to happen." Cris said with a shrug.

"Like when?" Sirius asked.

"Like when….. I can't think of any at the moment but there is some." Cris said. This caused some forced chuckles out of some people.

**and to ask whether this was their idea of a joke. Cris stood in the kitchen, clutching the mop for support as Uncle Vernon advanced on her,**

The twins clutched her to them, and Luna continued reading although a little halfheartedly.

**a demonic glint in his tiny eyes. "Read it!" he hissed evilly, brandishing the letter the owl had delivered. "Go on – read it!" Cris took it. It did not contain birthday greetings. **

_**Dear Miss Potter, **_

_**We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes passed nine. As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, **_

"Damnit, your blackmail is gone." Padfoot said.

"This is where the worst begins," Cris muttered. Lily J heard and looked worriedly to her teenaged mother; it's a very good thing that her brothers weren't here to hear any of this.

_**and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity which risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offence, under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statue of Secrecy. **_

_**Enjoy your Holidays! **_

_**Yours sincerely, **_

_**Mafalda Hopkirk**_

_**Improper Use of Magical Office **_

_**Ministry of Magic **_

**Cris looked up from the letter and gulped. "You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside of school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it ... slipped your mind, I dare say ..." He was bearing down on Cris like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you, girl ... I'm locking you up ... you're never going back to that school ... never ... and if you try and magic yourself out – they'll expel you!" And laughing like a maniac, he dragged Cris back upstairs.**

"Let her go," growled everyone in the room.

**Uncle Vernon was as bad as his word. The following morning, he paid a man to fit bars on Cris' window. **

"And nobody found this odd?" Kingsley asked.

"No, they were told that I was the trouble making child and a hooligan. You will find out more in the next book." Cris said.

**He himself fitted in a cat-flap in the bedroom door, so small amounts of food could be pushed inside three times a day. They let Cris out to use the bathroom morning and evening. Otherwise, she was locked in her room around the clock.**

"They treat you worse than a house elf." Malfoy said much to everyone's surprise.

"Are you feeling sorry for me?" Cris asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess so; let's just say that I'm seeing you in new light." Malfoy said. Everyone's mouth dropped at that and Cris looked over at Ron and Hermione.

"Is he being serious?" Cris whispered.

"I'm not sure, why don't you ask Lily J and Teddy about what he's like in the future." Hermione said.

"All right, I will after this chapter and when we break." Cris whispered. They motioned for Luna to continue and she did.

**Three days later, the Dursley's were showing no sign of relenting and Cris couldn't see any way out of her situation. She lay on her bed watching the sun sinking behind the bars on her window and wondered miserably what would happen to her. **

"Your boyfriends and Red are coming." Hermione said. Cris gave a big old smile and hugged her boys tightly.

**What good was magicking herself out of her room if Hogwarts would expel her for doing it? Yet life at Privet Drive had reached an all-time low. Now the Dursley's knew they weren't going to wake up as fruit bats, she had lost her only weapon. Dobby might have saved Cris from the horrible things happening at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, she'd probably starve to death anyway. **

"When we get back to school we are dragging your butt to the hospital wing." The twins and Ginny said.

"I don't need…." Cris started to say.

"No buts pup, you're going." Sirius said.

**The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunia's hand appeared, pushing a bowel of tinned soup into the room. Cris whose insides were aching with hunger, and her hand swollen black and blue, **

"What happened to your hand?" Remus, Lily, Robin, and Mrs. Weasley asked.

"It was during one of the beatings, I raised my arm to protect my head and my wrist broke." Cris said.

"I'm going to break his wrist." Sirius snarled.

**jumped off her bed and seized it. The soup was stone cold, but she drank half of it in one gulp. Then she crossed the room to Hedwig's cage and tripped the soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowel into her empty food tray. **

"That's right, it's not only you that they are depriving, its Hedwig as well." Ginny said.

"Though I doubt that she will be grateful for it." Hermione said.

"What other choice does she have though?" Neville asked.

**She ruffled her feathers and gave her a look of deep disgust. "It's no good turning your beak up at it, that's all we've got," said Cris grimly. She put the empty bowel back on the floor next to the cat-flap and lay back down on the bed, somehow even hungrier than she had been before the soup. Supposing she was still alive in four week's time, what would happen if she hadn't come back?**

"Someone would have gone to get you. Then we would have learnt of your living conditions." Snape said.

"And then you would have been taken away from that house and possibly into the Weasley's care." McGonagall said. Cris turned to look at Ron and her boys.

"Now I wish you hadn't come to pick me up." Cris said.

"Us too," the three brothers said.

**Would someone be sent to see why she hadn't come back? Would they be able to make the Dursley's let her go?**

"Of course they would." Sirius said.

**The room was growing dark. Exhausted, stomach rumbling, mind spinning over the same unanswerable questions, Cris feel into an uneasy sleep. She dreamed that she was on show in a zoo, with a card reading 'Underage Witch' attached to her cage. People goggled through the bars at her as she lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. She saw Dobby's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Dobby called, "Cristal Potter is safe there, miss!" and vanished. Then the Dursley's appeared and Dudley rattled the bars of the cage laughing at her. "Stop it," Cris muttered, as the rattling pounded in her sore head. "Leave me alone ... cut it out ... I'm trying to sleep ..." **

"So that's what you were saying." Fred said.

"What did you think I was saying?" Cris asked.

"I have no idea." Ron said.

**She opened her eyes. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And someone was goggling through the bars at her: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone. **

"Will I always have that type of description?" Ron asked.

"Probably," everyone said. This made Ron huff and cross his arms in annoyance.

**Ron Weasley was outside Cris' window.**

"That's the chapter," Luna said.

"Before Neville takes the book can we have a break to think about what we have read so far?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Certainly Molly, that sounds like a wonderful plan." Dumbledore said. The group then stood and went in different directions.


	4. Break 1

Once they broke up to take a break Cris dragged the twins, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Malfoy, Lily J and Teddy into a side room. Once in there the group turned to face Malfoy with confused looks. Cris then turned to her future daughter and godson.

"I don't exactly want to know about the future but I want to know about Malfoy." Cris said.

"Uncle Draco turned to our side, I can't tell you when or how." Lily J said.

"Uncle Draco!" everyone exclaimed.

"Who marries him?" Ron asked.

"Luna," Teddy said. Luna looked over at the Slytherin with calculating eyes.

"I can see that, I just need to get to know him." Luna said. Cris turned to Malfoy again.

"Are you really willing to turn your back on your family and Voldemort and fight against them?" Cris asked.

"I…. I'm not sure, but I don't want to become a murderer. I don't want to become like my father." Malfoy said.

"That's good enough for me. But we will be watching you _Draco, _you have done some serious shit to us in the past and we can't just forgive that easily." Cris said.

"Cris, are you crazy. This is Malfoy we're talking about, he can't just change." Ron said.

"Anyone can change if they put their mind to it Red, everyone deserves a second chance." Cris said.

"Alright, fine. I'll give him a chance but I don't have to like it." Ron said.

"Okay, would it be alight if I can spend some alone time with Fred and George?" Cris asked. Hermione nodded and they left with Lily J, Hermione and Ginny leaving the room last with a wink towards the three. The door closed and the room changed. Now it was filled with candles and had a blanket on the ground with a picnic basket.

"Did you have all this planned out Bambi?" Fred asked with a mischievous smile.

"Maybe, or maybe I just wanted to spend some time with you two, I haven't yet since we got together." Cris said.

"Well, who can say no to that?" George asked with a grin. Cris grinned and wrapped her arm around George's neck and kissed him with so much passion and then she felt another set of arms wrap themselves around her waist and Fred started to kiss her neck.

"I don't think we have time to do more than this though." Cris said when she and George broke apart. Neither of the twins said anything but they turned her around so now she was facing Fred. Fred then kissed her with as much passion as his brother and George was now kissing her neck about the same spot as Fred did.

"But you said that you wanted to spend some time with us." George whined. Cris broke away from Fred.

"We are only on a short brake though; we don't exactly have time for this, as much as I want to." Cris said.

"Alright," the twins whined in unison.

Cris giggled and pulled them over to the blanket and basket and force them to sit down as she dug through the basket. She pulled out the chocolate covered strawberries and had an idea on what to do with them.

"What are you doing Bambi?" Fred asked with an eyebrow raised.

"You shall see Mischief." Cris said with smirk. The twins looked at each other and then shrugged their shoulders.

Cris plucked two strawberries from a container and took off the stems and slowly placed the both of them in her mouth. The twins took the hint and got closer to her and each of them took the end of each strawberry. Their chins touching and their lips lightly pressed to Cris', they bite down on the strawberries and withdrew from her mouth.

*Meanwhile*

The group that left the room where now staring at the closed door wondering what they would be doing in there.

"So what do you think that they are doing?" Ron asked.

"They are either having sex or just doing something very provocative." Lily J said. The group turned to stare at her.

"You don't find that embarrassing or anything like that?" Ginny asked.

"Not anymore, I've lost count on the number of times James, Teddy, Keiran and I have walked in on them." Lily J said. At the statement Teddy's hair turned the fusia color that Cris' hair turns into when she's embarrassed.

"That reminds me, are you a metamorphmagus like your mom?" Hermione asked. Everyone sighed in relief at the change of subject.

"Well, kinda, all of us can turn our hair colors but not to the extent like Teddy and Tonks." Lily J said.

"What do you mean like Teddy and Tonks?" Neville asked.

"Well mum and I can change our whole appearance if we wanted to while Aunt Cris and Lily J and her siblings can just change their hair color." Teddy said.

"What are you guys doing?" a voice asked behind them. The turned around to come face to face with the past marauders and Bill and Charlie.

"At first we were wondering what Cris and the twins were doing in there and then we started talking about metamorphmagi." Teddy said.

"Teddy!" the group other than Lily J said.

"And what exactly are my daughter and those twins doing?" James asked.

"We don't exactly know." Hermione said. James, Padfoot and Moony rushed the door and opened it. The sight that met them was funny to say the least. Cris had both the twins on their back, with Cris in between them with grapes over each of them and they had to work to get them.

"Having fun Cris?" James asked. The three looked up at the intruders; Cris gave them a wide smile.

"Of course, but what are you doing here dad?" Cris asked. The twins sat up and snatched the grapes from Cris who mock glared at them.

"Just because your friends gave us the impression that you three are doing more than this." James said with a sheepish smile to the room.

"Wow, I don't think I would have lived to see the day that Prongs has nothing to say." Padfoot said.

"I still can't believe that you didn't tell us that you knew the marauders Bambi." Fred said with a mock hurt look on his face.

"Sorry, my life has been crazy and I didn't know how to tell you guys." Cris said. Cris turned back to the group in front of her.

"So what's going on now?" she asked.

"It's time to get back to the reading." Ginny said. Fred and George helped Cris up and they headed back into the main room to go on to chapter 3.


	5. Chapter 3: The Burrow

"**Chapter 3: The Burrow," **Neville read.

"Yea! You're away from that stinking place." Padfoot said.

"The Burrow is a fantastic place." Cris said with a wistful smile.

**"Ron!" breathed Cris, creeping to the window and pushing it up so they could talk through the bars. **

"I'm sorry that I didn't believe you boys." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Mrs. Weasley, it's okay. How could you possibly know that they weren't exaggerating?" Cris asked. Mrs. Weasley smiled at the girl she has come to think of as a daughter.

**"Ron, how did you – what the –?" Cris' mouth fell open as the full impact of what she was seeing hit her. **

"You're expression was priceless." Fred said. Cris scowled at him and he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Whipped," Bill whispered to Charlie. Charlie nodded his head and Neville continued reading.

**Ron was leaning out of the back window of an old turquoise car, which was parked in mid-air. Grinning, Ron's elder twin brothers. **

"My knights in shining armor." Cris said with a happy sigh and threw her hair over her shoulder and bat her eyelashes.

"Come to rescue their princess from the evil dragons." Hermione chimed in. They burst into laughter at everyone's confused looks.

"I don't get it." Ron muttered to Ginny.

"Honestly Ron, its Muggle fairy tales." Ginny said.

"But Fairies don't have tails." Malfoy said.

"I'll explain later," Cris, Hermione and Lily said together. The group nodded and Neville continued reading.

**"All right, Cris?"**

"Oh yeah, I'm just great, starving and being kept locked in my room is my version of a good time." Cris said sarcastically.

"You are definitely you're mothers daughter." Sirius and Remus laughed shaking their heads.

"I definitely would have said something like that." Lily said with a smile at her daughter.

**"What's been going on?" said Ron. "Why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, **

"A psychotic house elf stopped the letters to make me not want to go back to school." Cris said with a serious expression on her face before she burst into laughter.

"No offence mate, but I think your daughter has gone insane." Padfoot said.

"Wouldn't surprise me," everyone chimed in, even Malfoy.

"Hey, I'm as sane as ever, and I've been though some crazy shit." Cris said.

"Cristal Rose Potter, watch your language." Mrs. Weasley, Lily and Robin said scoldingly.

**and then Dad came home and said you got an official warning for using magic in front of muggles ..."**

**"It wasn't me – and how did he know?"**

"You are more alert than anyone else who just woke up." Tonks pointed out.

"I always have been, most times anyway." Cris said with a shrug.

**"He works for the Ministry," said Ron. "You know we're not supposed to do spells outside school –"**

**"Bit rich coming from you," said Cris, staring at the floating car.**

"I can see how you thought that." Bill said with a chuckle.

**"Oh, this doesn't count," said Ron. "We're only borrowing this, it's Dad's, we didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with ..."**

**"I told you, I didn't – but it'll take too long to explain now. Look, can you explain to them at Hogwarts that the Dursley's have locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can't magic myself out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell I've done in three days so –" **

"Did you really think they would leave you there?" James asked.

"I wasn't exactly sure what they would do." Cris said sheepishly.

"Then you should know better than that, we are definitely there to rescue our dear princess." George said with a mischievous smile on his face.

**"Stop gibbering," said Ron, "we've come to take you home with us," **

Everyone smiled, grateful that they rescued Cris from that hell hole.

**"But you can't magic me out either –" **

"We don't need to use magic," Fred said.

"To take you away from there," George said.

"Bambi." They said together.

**"We don't need to," said Ron, jerking his head towards the front seats and grinning. "You forget who I've got with me." **

The twins tried to look innocent but the others around the room thought that the look didn't suit them.

"Don't give us that look." Cris said.

"We absolutely won't fall for it." Ginny said finishing the sentence. They smiled at each other then laughed. When they stopped Neville continued reading.

**"Tie that round the bars," said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Cris. **

**"If the Dursley's wake up, I'm dead," said Cris, as she tied the rope tightly around the bar and Fred revved up the car.**

"What would happen if some of your neighbors looked out the window?" Padfoot asked.

"They would think that they are dreaming and go back to bed." Cris said.

**"Don't worry," said Fred "and stand back." Cris moved back into the shadows next to Hedwig, who seemed to have realized how important this was and kept still and silent. **

"You have one smart owl Cris." Lily said.

"I wouldn't trade her for the world. I don't know what I would do without her." Cris said. Nobody noticed the look of sadness flash across the faces of Lily J and Teddy's face.

**The car revved louder and louder and louder then suddenly, with a crunch noise, the bars pulled clean out of the window as Fred drove straight up into the air – Cris ran back to the window to see the bars dangling a few feet above the ground. Panting, Ron hoisting them up into the car. Cris listened anxiously, but there was no sound from the Dursley's' bedroom. **

"Please tell me that they don't wake up." Sirius begged. Cris looked away and everyone sighed and Neville continued reading.

**When the bars were safely in the back seat with Ron, Fred reversed as close as possible to Cris' window. **

**"Get in," Ron said. **

**"But all my Hogwarts stuff ... my wand ... my broomstick ..." **

"What about your homework?" McGonagall asked.

"Like I was able to do it, I got it done at the Burrow." Cris said.

"At least she got it done." Robin said. She sighed and placed her hand on her stomach. Sirius noticed and gave her a look, she shook her head and mouthed later and Neville continued reading.

**"Where is it?"**

**"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room –"**

"You know, we wondered why we saw a small bed and a few drawings in there." George said with a sad expression.

"It's in the past, it doesn't matter anymore." Cris said.

"It may be in the past but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have to hide it." James said.

"How would you know though?" Cris asked looking over at her father.

"It's because I had a similar situation Prongslet, it may not look it but my parents were very similar to your aunt and uncle." Padfoot said.

"I'm sorry Padfoot, I didn't know." Cris said looking hurt.

"It's no problem Cris; it's not something I like to talk about." Sirius said.

**"No problem," said George from the front passenger seat. "Out of the way, Cris."**

**Fred and George climbed carefully through the window into Cris' room. You had to hand it to them, thought Cris, as George took an ordinary hairpin from his pocket and started to pick the lock.**

"George, Fred! Where in the world did you learn that from?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Bill taught us, and besides, it was a good thing that we did,"

"Otherwise Cris' stuff would have still been there and they might have burned it."

"That's true; Uncle Vernon just needs the opportunity." Crus said.

**"A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," said Fred, "but we feel they're skills are worth learning even if they are a bit slow." **

**There was a small click and the door swung open. **

**"So – we'll get your trunk – you grab what you need from here and hand it out to Ron," whispered George. **

**"Watch out for the bottom stair, it creaks," Cris whispered back, as the twins disappeared onto the dark landing. Cris dashed around her room collecting her things together and passing them out of the window to Ron.**

"Thanks for that hint by the way." Fred said with a smile.

"It's no problem; I wouldn't want you guys to get caught by my uncle just for going to get my stuff and helping me." Cris said.

**Then she went to help Fred and George heave her trunk upstairs. Cris heard Uncle Vernon cough. At last, panting they had reached the landing, then carried the trunk through Cris' room to the open window. Fred climbed back into the car to pull with Ron, and Cris and George pushed from the bedroom side.**

**Inch by inch, the trunk slid through the window. **

**Uncle Vernon coughed again. "A bit more," panted Fred, who was pulling from the inside of the car, "one good push ..."**

**Cris and George threw their shoulders against the trunk and it slid out of the window into the back seat of the car.**

"You get away; please say you get away without them waking up." Lily chanted.

**"Ok, let's go," George whispered. But as Cris climbed onto the window-sill there came a sudden loud screech from behind her, followed immediately by the thunder of Uncle Vernon's voice.**

"How could you forget Hedwig?" Ginny asked.

"I just forgot," Cris said rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. Sirius shook his head; she looked just like James when he did that.

**"THAT RUDDY OWL!"**

**"I've forgotten Hedwig!" Cris tore back across the room as the landing light clicked on. She snatched up Hedwig's cage, dashed to the window and passed it out to Ron. She was scrambling back onto the chest of drawers when Uncle Vernon hammered on the unlocked door – and it crashed open. For a split second, Uncle Vernon's stood framed in the doorway; then he let out a bellow like an angry bull and dived on Cris, grabbing her by the ankle.**

"Let her go!" were heard throughout the room. Cris smiled at everyone before Neville went on with the chapter.

**Ron, Fred and George seized Cris' arms and pulled as hard as they could. **

**"Petunia!' roared Uncle Vernon. 'She's getting away! SHE'S GETTING AWAY!' The Weasley's gave a gigantic tug and Cris' leg slid out of Uncle Vernon's grasp. – Cris was in the car – she's slammed the door shut – **

"I'm so going to get him." Sirius snarled.

"No!" shouted Robin and Cris.

"You going to be a dad in a few months' time, let someone else handle them, please." Cris said to her godfather. Robin smiled at her gratefully before smacking Sirius upside the head.

"Besides Pads, you child needs a dad, I'm not there for Cris so please try and be there for both your kid and my daughter." James said. Sirius nodded and wrapped his arm around his future wife.

**Cris was in the car and she'd slammed the door shut, Ron yelled, "Put your foot down, Fred!" and the car shot suddenly towards the moon. Cris couldn't believe it – she was free. She wound down the window, the night air whipping her hair, and looked back at the shrinking rooftops of Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley all hanging, dumbstruck, out of Cris' window.**

"That was a pretty funny site," Cris said with a wistful smile.

"That was definitely funny then, funnier than your look when you saw the flying car." Fred said. Cris glared at him before turning back to Neville.

**'See you next summer!' Cris yelled.**

Everyone chuckled a little bit before Neville went on.

**The Weasley's roared with laughter and Cris settled back in her seat, grinning ear to ear.**

**"Let Hedwig out," she told Ron, "she can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings for ages." **

"At least you remembered her this time." Moony said. Cris blushed and looked down into her lap.

**George handed the hairpin to Ron and a moment later, Hedwig had soared joyfully out of the window to glide alongside them like a ghost. **

**"So – what's the story Cris?" said Ron impatiently. "What's been happening?" Cris told them all about Dobby, the warning he'd given Cris and the fiasco with the violent pudding. There was a long shocked silence when she had finished.**

"Well yeah, it was kind of crazy." Fred said.

"Thanks, I feel so loved." Cris said.

**"Very fishy," said Fred finally. **

**"Definitely dodgy," agreed George. "So he wouldn't tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"**

**"I don't think he could," said Cris. "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip; he started banging his head against the wall.' She saw how Fred and George looked at each other. "What do you think he was lying to me?" said Cris. **

"Could be likely, but I doubt that he is lying." Kingsley said.

**"Well," said Fred, "Put it this way – house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"**

"Yes, I of course I have. This me we're talking about." Cris said.

**"Yes," said Cris and Ron together, instantly. **

**"Draco Malfoy," Cris explained. "He hates me."**

"Not exactly hate you, more like empathy. Well maybe not that, but more like I wanted to be your friend to get away from my father and his view on the Dark Lord." Malfoy said.

"Well Mr. Malfoy, if you really mean what you say then we will provide protection for you after this is over with." Dumbledore said. Malfoy nodded and Neville continued while everyone looked flabbergasted.

**"Draco Malfoy?" said George, turning round. "Not Lucius Malfoy's son?"**

**"Must be, it's not a very common last name, is it?" said Cris. "Why?"**

**"I've heard Dad talk about him," said George. "He was a big supporter of You Know Who,"**

"Still is for the matter." Cris and Malfoy said. They stared at each other before Cris gave him a small smile.

**"And when You Know Who disappeared," said Fred, craning, around to look at Cris, **

"I wish he stayed disappeared." Cris mumbled.

**"Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it. Load of Dung – Dad reckons he was right in You Know Who's inner circle." **

"Still is," Malfoy mumbled.

**Cris had heard these rumors about Malfoy's family before, and they didn't surprise her at all. Draco Malfoy made Dudley Dursley look like a kind, thoughtful and sensitive boy. **

"Hey, don't compare me to your bully of a cousin." Malfoy sneered crossing his arms over his chest.

"That was then, this is now." Cris said.

**"I don't know if the Malfoy's own a house-elf ..." said Cris. **

**"Well, whoever owns him will be old wizarding family, and they'll be rich," said Fred.**

"So any number of families then." Sirius said. Everyone nodded and Neville continued.

**"Yeah, Mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing," said George.**

"Maybe Dobby would be willing to help out some," Cris said off handly.

"No it's alright dear, I manage just fine without the help." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Alright, if you're sure," Cris said. Mrs. Weasley smiled and Neville continued reading.

**"But all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over out garden. House-elves come with bug old manors and castles and places like that, you wouldn't catch one in our house ..."**

**Cris was silent. Judging by the fact that Draco Malfoy usually had the best of everything, his family was rolling in wizard gold; she could just see Malfoy strutting around a large manor house. Sending a family servant to stop Cris going back to Hogwarts. It also sounded exactly like the sort of thing Malfoy would do. Had Cris been stupid to take Dobby's warning seriously?**

"No, even if he wasn't being truthful you should still take it seriously." Tonks said.

"Considering what happened that year it's a good thing I did." Cris said.

"What happened this year?" Sirius, Remus, Robin, Lily and the marauders asked.

"Um, it might be best if you just read and find out." Hermione said.

**"I'm glad we came to get you, anyway," said Ron. **

"So are we," everyone said.

"Thank you, I don't think I said it at the time." Cris said. The three boys smiled at her warmly and the twins each gave her a kiss.

**"I was getting really worried when you didn't answer any of my letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first –" **

"You know it's a miracle that he is still alive." Bill said.

"I'm so buying mum and dad an owl for Christmas, they need it." Charlie whispered.

"I'm coming with you when you buy it." Bill whispered back.

**"Who's Errol?"**

**"Our owl. He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So then I tried to borrow Hermes –"**

"You guys need a new owl." Sirius said.

"We can't exactly afford one." Mr. Weasley said his ears turning red. Before Sirius could say anything Charlie and Bill sent him a look saying that they were going to be buying the owl. Sirius nodded and wrapped an arm around Robin, placing his hand on the small bump that was almost visible now.

**"Who?"**

**"The owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was made prefect," said Fred from the front. **

**"But Percy wouldn't lend him to me," said Ron. "Said he needed him."**

"Does Percy have a girlfriend that we didn't know about?" Sirius asked.

"No way, we would have known about it." Bill said. Percy turned red and his older brothers looked at him in shock. Before they could say anything else Neville continued reading.

**"Percy's been acting very odd this summer," said George, frowning "And he has been sending a lot of letters and spending lots of time shut up in his room ... I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge ... **

**"You're driving too far west, Fred," he added, pointing to the compass on the dashboard. Fred twiddled the steering wheel. **

**"So, does your dad know you've got his car?" said Cris, guessing the answer. **

**"Er, no," said Ron, "he had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it." **

"Like that is going to work," Remus said.

"It didn't," Cris said. The group either smiled or chuckled a little bit before Neville continued reading.

**"What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?"**

**"He works in the most boring department," said Ron. "The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." **

"Sorry dad," Ron said.

"It's alright Ron; it can be a bit boring at times." Mr. Weasley said.

**"The what?"**

**"It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home and tried to serve tea in it. It was a nightmare – Dad was working overtime for weeks."**

**"What happened?"**

**"The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place and one man ended up in hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was going frantic, it's only him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office, and they had to do memory charms and all sorts to cover it up ..." **

"Now that sucks." James said.

"It's hard, but it's worth it." Mr. Weasley said.

**"But your dad ... this car ..." Fred laughed. **

**"Yeah, Dad's mad about everything to do with Muggles, our shed's full of Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it and puts it back together again. If he raided our house he'd have to put himself straight under arrest. It drives Mum mad."**

"I can just imagine it now," James said.

"That would be funny," Sirius said.

**"That's the main road," said George, peering down through the windscreen. "We'll be there in ten minutes ... just as well, it's getting light ..." **

**A faint pinkish glow was visible along the horizon to the east. Fred brought the car down lower and Cris saw a dark patchwork of fields and clumps of trees. **

**"We're a little way out from the village," said George. "Ottery St Catchpole ..." Lower and lower went the flying car. The edge of a brilliant red sun was now gleaming through the trees.**

"You just might get away with it if only Cris wasn't with you. You have her rotten luck now." Charlie said.

"Got to admit it would have worked, but my luck is really rotten." Cris said.

**"Touchdown!" said Fred as, with a slight bump, they hit the ground. They landed next to a tumbledown garage in a small yard and Cris looked out for the first time at Ron's house. **

**It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigsty, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it was held up by magic (which Cris reminded herself it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A lop-sided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read 'The Burrow'. Round the front door lay a jumble of wellington boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were peaking their way through the yard. She loved it; it was almost a magical version of the house she dreamt of sharing with her parents as a child. **

"That's sweet," Mrs. Weasley said.

"It was my child hood fantasy; I used to pretend that this was all a dream and when I woke up my parents would be there." Cris said.

"Any child would think that." Sirius said. Cris smiled over at her godfather who smiled back at her.

**"It's not much," said Ron. **

**"It's brilliant," said Cris happily, thinking of Privet Drive. They got out the car. **

**"Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly," said Fred, "and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast. Then Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, 'Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Cris and no one need ever know we flew the car."**

"You thought that would really work?" Bill asked.

"Well, it was worth a shot." Fred said.

"Everything is worth a shot." Remus said.

**"Right," said Ron. "Come on, Cris, I sleep at the –" **

"Uh-oh," Sirius said.

"Someone's busted." James said.

**Ron had gone a nasty greenish color, his eyes fixed on the house. The other three wheeled around. Mrs. Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind-faced woman, it was remarkable how much she looked like a saber-toothed tiger. **

Mrs. Weasley blushed a little bit at that while everyone else was trying to hold in their laughter.

**"Ah," said Fred. **

**"Oh dear," said George.**

"That's all you said? I would have said something along the lines of 'oh shit.'" Bill said.

"William!" Mrs. Weasley screeched.

"Molly, he's an adult. Leave him be." Mr. Weasley said.

**Mrs. Weasley came to a halt in front of them, her hands on her hips, staring from one guilty face to the next. She was wearing a flowered apron with a wand sticking out of the pocket. **

**"So," she said. **

**"Morning, Mum," said George, in what he clearly thought was a jaunty, winning voice.**

"That won't work." Charlie said.

**"Have you any idea how worried I've been?" said Mrs. Weasley in a deadly whisper. **

**"Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to –"**

**All three of Mrs. Weasley's sons were taller than she was, but they cowered as her rage broke over them. **

"Don't blame them Molly, blame the crazy house elf that had them worried." Lily said.

"I think I will, if I ever see him again I will give him a piece of my mind." Mrs. Weasley said.

_**"Beds empty! No note! Car gone ... could have crashed ... out of my mind with worry... did you care? ... never, as long as long as I've lived ... you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy ..."**_

**"Perfect Percy," muttered Fred. **

**"YOU COULD DO WITH TALKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!" yelled Mrs. Weasley, prodding a finger in Fred's chest. "You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost your father his job –"**

**It seemed to go on for hours. Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself hoarse before she turned on Cris, who backed away.**

"I'm sorry dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's okay Mrs. Weasley; you didn't know that I came from an abusive family." Cris said. The mood became somber again before Neville continued.

**"I'm very pleased to see you, Cris, dear," she said, "Come in and have some breakfast."**

**She turned and walked back into house and Cris, after a nervous glance at Ron, who nodded encouraging, following her. **

"And now we know why she was hesitant at first." Ron said with a snarl on his face.

**The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chair in the middle and Cris sat down on the edge of this seat, looking around. She had never been in a wizard house before. **

**The clock on the wall opposite her had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like 'Time to make tea', 'Time to feed the chickens' and 'You're late'. Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking and One Minute Feasts – It's magic! And unless Cris' ears were deceiving her, the old radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was 'Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck'.**

"She's still around?" Padfoot asked surprised.

**Mrs. Weasley was clattering around, cooking breakfast a little haphazardly, throwing dirty looks at them as she threw sausages into the frying pan. Every now and then she muttered things like "don't know what you were thinking of" and "never would have believed it".**

**"I don't blame you, dear," she assured Cris, tipping eight or nine sausages onto her plate. "Arthur and I have been worried about you too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron by Friday.**

"You boys really should have waited," Remus said.

"Yeah, I wish we did now." Fred said.

"It would have been great to see Molly's and Arthur's face when they came to get you." Sirius said. Everyone smiled but Cris' was the biggest as her imagination ran wild within her mind picturing the different ways Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would terrorize the Dursley's.

**But really" (she was now adding three fried eggs to her plate), "flying an illegal car halfway across the country – anyone could have seen you –"**

**She flicked her wand casually at the dishes the in sink, which began cleaning itself, clinking gently in the background. **

**"It was cloudy, Mum!" said Fred. **

**"You keep your mouth shut when you're eating!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. **

**"They were starving her, Mum!" said George.**

**"And you!" said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a slightly soften expression**

"Ah, that got her to soften up." Sirius said.

"Of course, I may have not known about the abuse but Cris has always been skin and bones when she comes during the summer." Mrs. Weasley said.

**that she started cutting Cris bread and buttering it for her. **

**At that moment, there was a diversion in the form of a small, red-headed figure in a long nightdress, who appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran out again. **

**'Ginny,' said Ron in an undertone to Cris. 'My sister. She's been talking about you all summer.' **

**'Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Cris,' grinned Fred,**

Ginny glared at the twins although she knew which is which but they cowered under her gaze.

"James is like that when I glare at him." Lily J said.

"What does your brother look like?" Sirius asked.

"He looks like grandpa, you Prongs, but with dark red hair and blue eyes and freckles." Lily J said.

"All of aunt Cris' kids have freckles; they got them from their dads." Teddy said.

"Anyway back to the chapter." Neville said.

**but he caught his mother's eye and bent his face over his plate without another word. **

**Nothing more was said until all four plates were clean, which took a surprisingly short time. **

**"Blimey, I'm tired," yawned Fred, setting down his knife and fork at last. "I think I'll go to bed and –"**

"Not going to work." Sirius said in a sing song voice.

**"You will not," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me, they're getting completely out of hand again."**

**"Oh, Mum –"**

**"And you two," she said, glaring at Ron and George. "You can go up to bed, dear," she added Cris. "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car." **

"No, but I had fun. I mean how often can you say that you've been in a flying car?" Cris asked.

"True, and I bet that you were wide awake as well." Remus said.

"Yeah, there's that too, the adrenaline." Cris said.

**But Cris, who felt wide awake, said quickly, "I'll help Ron, I've never seen a de-gnoming –"**

"It's pretty boring." Charlie said.

"But I had fun." Cris said.

"Do you always find the most boring things fun?" Sirius asked.

"It's who I am." Cris said with a smile.

**"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject." **

"Anyone knows better than Lockhart." Remus said.

"No kidding." Cris and Ron said.

**And she pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece. George groaned. **

"And he should." Ron said.

**"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden."**

**Cris looked at the cover of Mrs. Weasley's book. Written across it in a fancy gold letters were the words: **_**Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests**_**. There was a big photograph on the front of a very good-looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the photograph was moving; the wizard, who Cris supposed was Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking cheekily up at them all. **

**Mrs. Weasley beamed down at him. "Oh, he is marvelous," she said, "he knows his household pests all right, what a wonderful book ..."**

**"Mum fancies him," said Fred, in a very audible whisper. **

**"Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," said Mrs. Weasley, her cheeks rather pink. "All right if you think you know better than Lockhart,**

"Everyone knows better than that fraud of a man." Cris said.

"He was a fraud?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, just wait until the end." Cris said.

**you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."**

**Yawning and grumbling, the Weasley's slouched outside with Cris behind them. The garden was large and, in Cris' eyes, exactly what a garden should be.**

"Compared to my Aunt it was exactly what I picture a perfect garden." Cris said. The Weasley's smiled at her.

**The Dursley's wouldn't have liked it – there were plenty of weeds, and the grass needed cutting – but there were gnarled trees all around the walls, plants Cris had never seen spilling from every flowerbed and a big green pond full of frogs. **

**"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Cris told Ron as they crossed the lawn.**

"These gnomes aren't exactly the same though." Sirius said.

"I know that now Snuffles." Cris said. The trio laughed and Sirius chuckled.

"Snuffles?" James asked.

"It's what we called him while he was on the run." Hermione said.

"On the run from who?" Moony asked.

"Third book." The trio, Sirius and Remus said.

**"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bend double with his head in a peony bush "Like fat little Father Christmases with fishing rods ..." There was a violent scuffing noise, the peony bush shuddered and Ron straightened up. "This is a gnome," he said grimly. **

**"Gerroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome. **

**It was certainly nothing like Father Christmas. It was small and leathery-looking, with a large, knobbly, bald head exactly like a potato. **

"Nice description mate," Ron laughed.

"I live to please." Cris said with a smile.

**Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside-down. **

**"This is what you have to do," he said. He raised the gnome above his head ('Gerroff me!') and started to swing it in great circles like a lasso. Seeing the shock look on Cris' face, Ron added, "It doesn't hurt them – you've just got to make them dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnomeholes." He let go of the gnome's ankles: it flew twenty feet into the air. **

"Now that's just pitiful, we just to play a game with it, and whoever loses becomes the victim of pranks for a week." Sirius said.

"That was fun, we got Pete a lot but all of us were the victims at times." James said.

"Why didn't we think of that?" George asked.

"I don't know," Fred said.

**"Pitiful," said Fred. "I bet I can get mine beyond that stump." Cris learnt quickly not to feel too sorry for the gnomes. She decided just to drop the first one she caught over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank it's razor-sharp teeth into Cris' finger**

"Ouch," the marauders, the twins, Bill, Charlie, Neville and Ginny said.

**and she had a hard time shaking it off until –**

**"Wow, Cris – that must've been fifty feet ..." **

**The air was soon thick with flying gnomes. **

**"See they're not too bright," said George, seizing five or six gnomes at once. "The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on they storm up to have a look. You'd think they'd of learnt by now to stay put." Soon, the crowd of gnomes in the field started walking away in a straggling line, their little shoulders hunched. **

"I think they're funny." Cris said.

"They are," a lot of the group said.

**"They'll be back," said Ron, as they watched the gnomes disappear into the hedge on the other side of the field. "They love it here ... Dad's too soft with them, he thinks they're funny ..." **

Mrs. Weasley frowned at her husband who just smiled sheepishly at her.

**Just then, the front door slammed. **

**"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"**

**They hurried through the garden and back into the house. Mr. Weasley slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, **

Mr. Weasley sighed wistfully and patted his bald spot.

**but the little hair he had was as red as his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn. **

**"What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they all sat around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned ..."**

"I really hate that man." Sirius said.

"Was because he left me alone to deal with things?" Cris asked.

"Yep, I would have killed him if Moony and Robin hadn't held me back." Sirius said.

**Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed. **

**"Find anything Dad?" said Fred eagerly. **

**"All I got were a few shrinking door-keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some odd ferrets, **

The kids snorted, thinking about Malfoy being turned into that ferret in fourth year.

**but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness ..." **

**"Why would anyone bother to make door-keys shrink?" said George. **

**"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it ... Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking – they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if its staring at them in the face ... but the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe –"**

**"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"**

"Busted," the marauders said.

**Mrs. Weasley appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. **

**Mr. Weasley's eyes jerked open. He stared guiltily at his wife. **

**"C-cars, Molly, dear?"**

**"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing. **

**"Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to fly." Mr. Weasley blinked.**

Sirius was laughing while Robin and Remus were trying hard not to laugh.

**"Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if, er, he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife that he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that it could fly wouldn't –"**

**"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley.**

The couple blushed while everyone else was either chuckling or trying very hard not to laugh.

**"Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Cris arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"**

**"Cris?" said Mr. Weasley blankly. "Cris who?"**

**He looked around, saw Cris and jumped. **

"I'm not that scary am I?" Cris asked.

"No, just when you're angry and yelling at people." Ron said.

"Thank you, Ron." Cris said glaring at her friend.

"Lily's the same way." Remus whispered to Cris who smiled at him.

**"Good Lord, is it Cris Potter? Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about –"**

"Nice try," Robin said. Mr. Weasley shrugged his shoulders and Neville continued.

_**"Your sons flew that car to Cris' house and back last night!"**_** shouted Mrs. Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?" **

"He's going to think that it's brilliant, mum." Bill said with a smile.

**"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I-I mean," he faltered, as spark flew from Mrs. Weasley's eyes, "that – that was very wrong, boys – very wrong indeed ..."**

Most people chuckled even Malfoy did a little bit.

**"Let's leave them to it," muttered Ron to Cris, as Mrs. Weasley swelled like a bullfrog. "Come on, I'll show you my bedroom." They slipped out of the kitchen down the narrow passageway to an uneven staircase, which zigzagged its way up through the house. On the third landing, a door stood ajar. Cris just caught sight of a pair of bright brown eyes staring at her before it closed with a snap. **

**"Ginny," said Ron. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy; she never shuts up normally –"**

Ginny glared fiercely at her brother who was trying to hide behind Hermione which wasn't working. Ginny smacked him hard on his arm.

"At least she doesn't have her wand on her." Ron whispered in Hermione's ear who just smiled.

**They climbed two more flights of stairs until they reached a door with peeling paint and a small plaque on it, saying 'Ronald's Room'. Cris stepped in, her head almost touching the sloping ceiling **

"The ceiling is low by the door." Ron said.

"I think it's kind of cool how it does that." Cris said.

**and blinked. It was like walking into a furnace: nearly everything on Ron's room was a violent orange: the bedspread, the walls every inch of the shabby wallpaper with posters of the seven witches and wizards, all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks and waving energetically. **

"You're a Cannon's fan?" Robin asked.

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Ron asked.

"No, just that they suck." Remus said.

"They aren't any better?" James asked.

"They are a little better, but not much." Bill said.

**"Your Quidditch team?" said Cris.**

"Do you have one?" James asked.

"Not really no, it's kind of hard when I live with Muggles." Cris said with a shrug.

"But you love the game." Ron said.

"Of course I do." Cris said.

**"The Chudley Cannons," said Ron, pointing at the orange bedspread, which was emblazoned with two giant black Cs and a speeding cannon ball. "Ninth in the league." **

"It's not so bad." Padfoot said.

**Ron's spell books were stacked untidily in a corner, next to a pile of comics which all seemed to figure **_**The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle**_**. Ron's magic wand was lying on top of a fish tank full of frogspawn on the window-sill, next to his fat grey rat, Scabbers, **

The trio, Sirius, and Remus scowled.

**who was snoozing in a patch of sun. **

**Cris stepped over a pack of Self-Shuffling playing cards on the floor and looked out of the tiny window. In the field far below she could see a gang of gnomes sneaking, one by one, back through the Weasley's hedge. Then she turned to look at Ron, who was watching her nervously, as though waiting for her opinion. **

**"It's a bit small," said Ron quickly. "Not like that room you had with the Muggles. And I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic; he's always banging on the pipes and groaning ..." **

**But Cris, grinning widely, said, "This is the best house I've ever been in." Ron's ears went pink.**

"That's the chapter." Neville said closing the book. He handed the book over to James.

"After this I think we should do lunch." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Alright, sounds good." Bill said. James opened the book to begin to read.


	6. Chapter 4: Flourish and Blotts

"**Chapter 4: Flourish and Blotts," **James read.

"Oh yeah, this is where you got lost in the Floo." Ron said.

"Hermione, Ginny can you slap Ron for me?" Cris asked. Hermione and Ginny both slapped him either on his arm or the back of his head.

"What happened in the floo?" James asked.

"You are going to find out anyway, so can we continue reading." Cris said. Grudgingly James continued reading.

**Life at The Burrow was as different as possible from life at Privet Drive. The Dursley's liked everything neat and ordered; **

"Just a little bit." Tonks said.

**the Weasley's house burst with the strange and unexpected. Cris got a shock the first time she looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, **_**'Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!'**_

"You jumped so high when that happened." Ginny laughed. Cris glared at her and she shut up.

**The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, and small explosions from Fred and George's room were considered perfectly normal. **

"Oooooh, I wonder what the two of you are doing." Sirius said.

"You shall find out dear Padfoot," Fred said.

"Sooner or later," George said. They both smiled and Neville continued.

**What Cris found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: it was the fact that everybody there seemed to like her. **

"Of course we like you." Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's hard not to like you once people get to know you." Neville said. Cris blushed and hid in the twins shoulders.

**Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of her socks and tried to force her to eat fourth helping to every meal.**

"Not that I'm not grateful or anything Molly, but that could do more damage than good." Remus said.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"For someone who has been starved for periods at a time like Cris it is best to give them small portions at first, then slowly work your way up to larger portions each time. Overfeeding, forcing more food in them can be very harmful." Robin said.

"I didn't know that, I'm sorry Cris." Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's no problem Mrs. Weasley; I understand that you were worried about how skinny I am." Cris said.

**Mr. Weasley liked Cris to sit next to him at dinner table so that he could bombard her with questions about Muggles, asking her to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked. **

Cris giggled remembering the letter in fourth year.

**"Fascinating!" he would say, as Cris talked him through using a telephone. "Ingenious, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic." **

This caused more giggles from Cris and a red faced Ron.

**Cris heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after she had arrived at The Burrow. She and Ron went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny sitting at the kitchen table. The moment she saw Cris, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl on the floor with a loud clatter. Ginny seemed prone to knocking things over whenever Cris entered a room.**

"Thank god I'm over that now." Ginny said.

"I think we all are. It got kind of annoying." Cris said.

"True," Ginny said.

**She dived under the table to retrieve the bowel and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. Pretending she hadn't noticed this, Cris sat down and took the toast Mrs. Weasley offered her. **

**"Letters from the school," said Mr. Weasley, passing Cris and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows your hear Cris – doesn't miss a trick that man. You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas. **

**For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. Cris' told her to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September first. There was also a list of the new books she'd need for the coming year. **

**Second-year students will require: **

_**The standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk **_

_**Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

_**Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

_**Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

_**Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

_**Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

_**Wandering with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

_**Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart**_

"Oh I'm so sorry; you have to deal with someone who is a fan of that loser." Padfoot said.

"No, it was worse, much worse." Ron said.

"Who could be worse?" Padfoot asked.

"Lockhart himself, I feel so sorry for the next year's teacher." Moony said. Remus looked sheepish but didn't look at his past self.

**Fred, who finished his own list, peered over at Cris'. **

**'You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!' he said. 'The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan – bet it's a witch."**

"Nope, it was worse than that dear brother." George said.

**At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade. **

**"That lot won't come cheap," said George, with a quick look at his parents. "Lockhart's books are really expensive ..."**

**"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second-hand." **

"You know, if you weren't still using your robes, mum might have gave them to me." Ginny said.

"And now I'm taller than you." Cris said.

"Because you got your growth spurt this summer." Ron said.

"Same with me," James, Lily and Lily J said.

"You too?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, James and Remus so far take after Dad and Papa." Lily J said.

"What about Connor and Ryker?" Lily J asked.

"Well Connor's nine and Ryker's five, Remus is thirteen." Teddy said.

"That's quite the age range there." Sirius said.

"It's not as bad as Keiran and his fiancé." Teddy said.

"Hey, she is as old as your girlfriend." Lily J said.

"Who is your girlfriend?" Remus asked.

"Later," Teddy said.

"Who is Keiran's fiancé?" Sirius asked.

"Later," Lily J said.

"I really hate that answer." James mumbled.

**"Oh, are you starting Hogwarts this year?" Cris asked Ginny. She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. Fortunately nobody saw this except Cris, because just then Ron's elder brother Percy walked in.**

"Here comes the prat." Ron muttered.

**He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his knitted tank top. **

**"Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."**

**He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling back from underneath him a molting grey feather duster – at least, that was what Cris thought it was, until she saw it was breathing.**

"Ah, Errol." Bill said with a shake of his head.

**"Errol!" said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally – he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursley's."**

**He carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron laid him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic." Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read it out loud: **

_**Dear Ron, and Cris if you're there, **_

"Yep, I'm there." Cris said with a smile.

_**I hope everything went all right that Cris is OK and that you didn't do anything illegal to get her out, Ron, because that would get Cris into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Cris is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you use a different owl, because I think another delivery might finish this one off.**_

_**I'm very busy with school work, of course **_**– "How can she be?" said Ron in horror. "We're on holiday!" **

"Because we have homework over the holiday Red." Cris said.

– _**and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my school books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?**_

_**Let me know what's happening as soon as you can, love from Hermione. **_

**"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too," said Mrs. Weasley, starting to clear the table. "What're you all up to today?"**

**Cris, Ron, Fred and George were planning to go up the hill to a small paddock the Weasley's owned. It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from the view of the village below, meaning that they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high. They couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village; instead they threw apples for each other to catch. They took in it turns to ride Cris' Nimbus two thousand, which was easily the best broom; Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies.**

Ron's ears went pink but the others laughed. Though Cris had the idea of getting something really good for Ron's birthday.

**Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. They had asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he said he was too busy. Cris had only seen Percy at meal-times so far; he stayed shut in his room the rest of the time.**

Cris noticed that Percy went as red as his hair and she could tell that he was thinking about his ex-girlfriend.

**"Wish I knew what he was up to," said Fred frowning. "He's not himself. His exam results came the day before you did; twelve O. and he hardly gloated at all."**

**"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," George explained, seeing Cris' puzzled look. **

"Thanks, I don't think I would have known until someone else explains it to me." Cris said.

**"Bill got twelve, too. If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame." **

"What's wrong with being head boy?" Bill asked with an air of menace about him.

"Absolutely nothing," the twins said together.

**Bill was the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. Cris had never met either of them, but knew that Charlie was in Romania, studying dragons, and Bill in Egypt, working for the wizards' bank Gringotts. **

"I don't meet them until the summer before fourth year." Cris said to the group from the past. The nodded in understanding and James continued.

**"Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year," said George after a while. "Five sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs robes and a wand and everything ..." Cris said nothing.**

**She felt a bit awkward. **

"You don't have to be dear." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I won't be feeling like that if you would just let me help out a bit." Cris said.

"No, we couldn't possibly," Mr. Weasley said.

"Molly, Arthur, it wouldn't be any problem for her to do that. The Potter's have more than enough money. We're about as well off as the Black's or the Malfoy's." James said.

"Alright, just let us think about it." Arthur said. Cris nodded and James continued to read.

**Stored in an underground vault at Gringotts in London was a small fortune that her parents had left her. Of course, it was only in the wizarding world that she had money; you couldn't use Galleons, Sickles and Knuts in Muggle shops. She had never mentioned her Gringotts bank account to the Dursley's; she didn't think their horror of anything connected with magic would stretch to a large pile of gold. **

"Thank god you didn't tell them." Sirius said.

"Can you imagine it; they would probably drain it dry." Cris said.

"Thank god they can't get into Diagon Alley or Gringotts." Bill said.

**Mrs. Weasley woke them all early the following Wednesday. After a quick half-a-dozen bacon sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantle-piece and peered inside. **

**"We're running low, Arthur," she sighed. "We'll have to buy some more today ... ah well, guest first! After you, Cris dear!" And she offered her the flowerpot. Cris stared at them all. **

**"W-what am I supposed to do?" she stammered. **

"Oohh, her first Floo travel." James said.

"No it's not," Sirius, Remus and Robin said.

"It's not?" Cris asked.

"Your first time was when you were 11 months old, and you did not like it." Robin said.

"The only one who could calm you down was this mutt." Remus said pointing at Sirius.

"Let's see if her opinion has changed any." Sirius said rubbing his hands together.

**"She's never travelled by Floo powder," said Ron suddenly. "Sorry, Cris I forgot."**

**"Never?" said Mr. Weasley. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"**

**"I went on the underground –"**

**"Really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Were there escapators? How exactly –"**

Everyone laughed and Mr. Weasley turned red.

**"Not now, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Floo powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before –"**

**"She'll be all right, Mum," said Fred. "Cris, watch us first." **

**He took a pinch of glittering powder out of the pot stepped up to the fire and threw the powder into the flames. With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished. **

**"You must speak clearly, dear," Mrs. Weasley told Cris, as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. "And mind you get out at the right gate ..." **

"You're going to overload her with too much information." Remus said worriedly.

"It's okay Remus, I was okay." Cris said.

**"The right what?" said Cris nervously, as the fire roared and whipped George out of sight too. **

**"Well, there are lots of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly –"**

**"She'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss," said Mr. Weasley, helping himself to Floo powder too. **

**"But dear, if she got lost, how would we ever explain to her aunt and uncle?" **

"Like they would care." Cris scoffed.

**"They wouldn't mind," Cris reassured her. "Dudley would think it a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney. Don't worry about that." **

"At least you're getting out of there and to someone more responsible." Robin said.

"But I thought I was going to be living with Sirius?" Cris asked mock hurt.

"Hey," Sirius said. He jumped turning into Padfoot in the process and started to chase her around the room.

"So everyone knows that we're animagi?" James asked.

"Yeah, we know Mr. Potter." McGonagall said. Then they started to watch Sirius case his goddaughter, and then Cris did a flip over the couch and back onto the twins' laps.

"How did you do that?" Remus asked.

"During the summer's while I'm out of the house most of the time and there is this free gymnastic center that I would go to, it's a lot of fun." Cris said.

"I wanted to be a gymnast when I was younger." Lily said with a smile.

**"Well ... all right ... you go after Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, when you get into the fire, say when you get into the fire, say where you're going –"**

**"And keep your elbow tucked in," Ron advised. **

**"And your eyes shut," said Mrs. Weasley. "The soot –"**

**"Don't fidget," said Ron. "Or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace –"**

**"But don't panic and get out early, wait until you see Fred and George." **

"This isn't going to be good." Sirius said rubbing his face.

**Trying to bear all this in mind, Cris took a pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire. She took a deep breath, scattered the powder into the flames and stepped forward; the fire felt like a warm breeze; she opened her mouth and immediately swallowed a lot of hot ash.**

"Not good," Lily muttered.

**"D-Dia-gon Alley," she coughed. **

**It felt as though she was being sucked down a giant plug hole.**

"Good description." Moody said.

"Are you going to say that every time my descriptions are accurate?" Cris asked.

"More than likely, Bambi." Fred said.

**She seemed to be spinning very fast ... the roaring in her ears was deafening ... she tried to keep her eyes open but the whirl of green flames made her feel sick ... **

"So you still hate it." Sirius said with a smile.

"It makes me dizzy and lose my balance, I'd rather fly." Cris said.

**something hard knocked her elbow and she tucked it in tightly, still spinning ... now it felt as though cold hands were slapping her face ... squinting through her glasses she saw a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the rooms beyond ... her bacon sandwiches were churning inside her ... She closed her eyes again wishing it would stop, and then – she fell, face forward, onto cold stone and felt her glasses shatter. **

"You should've taken off your glasses." James said.

"I do from now on when I'm wearing them." Cris said.

**Dizzy and bruised, covered in soot, she got gingerly to her feet, brushing the hair out of her eyes then holding her broken glasses up to her eyes. She was quite alone, but where she was, she was no idea. All she could tell was that she was standing on a stone fireplace of what looked like a large, dimly lit wizard's shop – but nothing in here was ever likely to be on a Hogwarts school list. **

"You need to get out of there, and quickly." Sirius and Padfoot said.

**A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a cushion, **

"You were there when my father and I went in weren't you?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Cris said sheepishly.

"So where were you hiding?" he asked. Cris smiled but didn't answer.

**a blood-stained pack of cards and a staring glass eye. Evil-looking masked leered down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter and rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling. **

"Nothing's changed." Padfoot murmured. When everyone looked at him he grimaced before explaining.

"Before I ran away from home, my dear mum would drag my brother and I into Borgin and Burkes whenever we went into Diagon Alley." Padfoot said.

**Even worse, the dark, narrow street Cris could see through the dusty window shop was defiantly not Diagon Alley. **

**The sooner she got out of here, the better.**

"I agree," everyone muttered.

**Nose still stinging where it had hit the earth, Cris made her way swiftly and silently towards the door, but before she'd got halfway towards it, two people appeared on the other side of the glass: Draco Malfoy. **

"Sorry," Draco muttered.

"It's not your fault, I just have horrible luck." Cris said.

"I never thought I would see the day that a Potter and a Malfoy would be nice to each other." James said.

"That's a good thing though." Lily said.

**Cris looked quickly around and spotted a large black cabinet to her left; she shot inside it and pulled the doors closed, leaving a small crack to peer through. Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped into the shop. The man who followed could only be his father. He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold grey eyes.**

"My eyes aren't that cold are they?" Draco asked.

"Not like your father's but they are a little." Cris admitted.

"Hey Bolt, what are we going to do once we get back to school now that we are friendly with Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"I'll get back to you on that." Cris said.

**Mr. Malfoy crossed the shop, looking lazily at the items on display, and rang the bell on the counter before turning to his son and saying, "Touch nothing, Draco."**

**Malfoy, who had reached the glass eye, said, "I thought you said you were going to but me a present." **

**"I said I would buy you a racing broom," said his father, drumming his fingers on the counter. "What's the good of that if I'm not in the house team?" said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered. "Cristal Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so she could play for Gryffindor. She's not even that good, it's just because she's famous ... famous for having a stupid scar on her head ..." Malfoy bent down to examine the skulls. "... everyone thinks she's so smart, wonderful Potter with her scar and her broomstick –"**

**"You have told me this at least a dozen times already," said Mr. Malfoy,**

"Do you have a secret crush on her Malfoy?" Sirius asked.

"I did for a while, but I got over it, I would be completely blind if I didn't see that she is good looking." Draco said. Cris blushed and James continued.

**with a quelling look at his son, "and I would remind you that it's not – prudent – to appear less fond of Cristal Potter, not when most of our kind regard her as the heroine who made the Dark Lord disappear – ah, Mr. Borgin." **

**A stooping man had appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair back from his face. **

**"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," said Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair.**

"Are you related to by any chance Snape?" Sirius asked. Robin slapped him and glared.

"Be nice," Robin said.

"I'm so whipped," Padfoot whispered to his friends.

"Well you are marrying her and she is carrying your child." James whispered.

"Speaking of which, are you okay with this Moony, I mean she is your twin sister." Padfoot whispered.

"Of course I'm okay with it, I can't dictate her life, besides at the moment she is thirty five." Moony whispered.

**"Delighted – and young Master Malfoy, too – charmed. How mat I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced –"**

**"I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling," said Mr. Malfoy. **

**"Selling?" The smile faded slightly on, Mr. Borgin's face. **

**"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids," said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few – ah – items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call ..."**

"That reminds me, how did you find out where it was hidden Mr. Weasley?" Draco asked.

"Ron told me, but I have no idea how he knew." Mr. Weasley said. The trio gulped but didn't answer.

**Mr. Borgin fixed a pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list. 'The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?' Mr. Malfoy's lip curled. **

**'I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows evermore meddlesome. There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act – no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it –"**

Glares were seen and growls were heard throughout the room.

**Cris felt a hot surge of anger.**

"Tell me you didn't do something stupid." Robin begged.

"I didn't, but I wanted to." Cris said.

**"– and as you can see, certain of these poisons might make it appear –"**

**"I understand, sir, of course," said Mr. Borgin. "Let me see ..." **

**"Can I have that?" interrupted Draco, pointing at the withered hand on its cushion. **

**"Ah, the hand of Glory!" said Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. **

"Great, please leave soon so Cris can get out of there." Lily said.

**"Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, sir." **

"Father did not like that at all." Draco said.

"I didn't reckon he did." Mr. Weasley said.

**"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin," said Mr. Malfoy coldly and Mr. Borgin said quickly, **

**"No offense, sir, no offense intended –"**

**"Though if his marks don't pick up," said Mr. Malfoy, more coldly still, "that may indeed be all he fit for."**

**"It's not my fault," retorted Draco. "The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger –"**

**"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizarding family beat you in every exam," snapped Mr. Malfoy. **

**"Ha!" said Cris under her breath, pleased to see Draco looking both abashed and angry. **

"That was just a show, I may have not liked the three of you but you three changed my mind about muggleborns." Draco said.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, they are just as good if not sometimes better than purebloods, you've proven that." Draco said.

**"It's the same all over," said Mr. Borgin, in his oily voice. "Wizard blood is counting less everywhere –"**

**"Not with me," said Mr. Malfoy, his nostrils flaring. **

**"No, sir, nor with me, sir," said Borgin, with a deep bow. **

**"In that case, perhaps we can return to my list," said Mr. Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today." **

**They started to haggle. Cris watched nervously as Draco drew nearer and nearer to her hiding place, examining the objects for sale. He paused to examine a long chain coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals: **_**Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed – Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date**_**. **

"I was just trying to stay out of the way; my father has a temper that could rival your uncle." Draco said.

"Did he ever hit you?" Cris asked.

"No, my mother always stopped him." Draco said.

**Draco turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward ... he stretched out his hand for the handle... **

**"Done," said Mr. Malfoy at the counter. "Come Draco!" Cris wiped her forehead on her sleeve as Draco turned away. "Good day to you, Mr. Borgin, I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods." The moment the door closed, Mr. Borgin dropped his oily manner. **

**"Good day yourself, Mister Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's in your manor ..." **

**Muttering darkly, Mr. Borgin disappeared into a back room. Cris waited for a minute in case he came back, then quietly as she could, slipped out of the cabinet, past the glass cases and out of the shop door. **

"I don't know if this is better or worse." Remus said.

"I know right, you need to get out there and fast." Sirius said.

**Clutching her broken glasses to her face she stared around. She had emerged into a dingy alleyway that seemed to be made up of shops devoted to the Dark Arts. The one she'd just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty window display of shrunken heads, and two doors down, a large cage was alive with gigantic black spiders.**

"Do you have to mention the spiders?" Ron asked.

"Sorry Red," Cris laughed.

**Two shabby-looking wizards were watching her from the shadow of a doorway, muttering to each other. **

"Get out of there, now!" James cried out.

**Feeling jumpy, Cris set off, trying to hold her glasses on straight and hoping against hope she'd be able to find her way out of there. **

**An old wooden street sign hanging over a shop selling poisonous candles told her she was in Knockturn Alley. This didn't help, as Cris had never heard of the place. She supposed she hadn't spoken clear enough through her mouthful of ashes back at the Weasley's fire. Trying to stay calm, she wondered what to do. **

**"Not lost are you, my dear?" said a voice in her ear, making her jump. An aged woman stood in front of her, holding a tray of what looked horribly like whole human fingers.**

"They probably were." Padfoot said.

**She leered at her, showing mossy teeth. Cris backed away. **

**"I'm fine, thanks," she said. "I'm just –"**

**"CRIS! What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"**

"Thank god, it's Hagrid." Moony said.

"You'll be getting out there now." Sirius sighed in relief.

**Cris' heart leaped. So did the witch; a load of fingernails cascaded down over her feet and she cursed the massive form of Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, came striding towards them, beetle-black eyes flashing over his great bristling beard. **

**"Hagrid!" Cris croaked in relief. "I was lost ... Floo powder ..." **

**Hagrid seized Cris by the scruff of the neck and pulled her away from the witch, knocking the tray right out of her hands. Her shrieks followed them all the way along the twisted alleyway out into the bright sunlight. Cris saw the familiar, snow-white marble building in the distance: Gringotts bank. Hagrid had steered her right into Diagon Alley. **

**"Yer a mess!" said Hagrid gruffly; brushing soot off Cris so forcefully he nearly knocked her into a barrel of dragon dung outside an apothecary's. "Skulkin' around Knockturn Alley, I dunno – dodgy place, Cris – don' want no one ter see yeh down there –" **

"What was he doing down there anyway?" Robin asked.

"He was after flesh eating slug repellant." Cris answered.

**"I realized that," said Cris, ducking as Hagrid made to brush her off again. "I told you, I was lost – what were you doing down there, anyway?"**

**"I was looking for Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent," growled Hagrid. "They're ruinin' the school cabbages. Yer not on yer own?"**

**"I'm staying at the Weasley's but we got separated," Cris explained. "I've got to go and find them ..."**

**They set off together down the street. **

**"How come yeh never wrote back ter me?" said Hagrid, as Cris explained jogged alongside him (she had to take three steps to every stride of Hagrid's enormous boots). Cris explained all about Dobby and the Dursley's. **

"Everything?" Lily asked.

"Well not everything, although, I think he suspected it." Cris said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone though?" Sirius asked.

"I did at one time and when my primary school teacher confronted my aunt and uncle about it my bruises were healed and they denied it. There was nothing she could do, and that nigh my uncle locked in the cupboard again and made it sure that the bruises didn't show." Cris said.

A lot of growls were heard throughout the room. The twins wrapped their arms tighter around Cris and looked over to her dad.

"Dad, can you please continue to read?" she asked her eyes wide and begging. James sighed and nodded and continued to read.

**"Ruddy Muggles," growled Hagrid. "If I'd've known –"**

**"Cris! Cris! Over here!" Cris looked and saw Hermione Granger standing at the top of the white flight steps of Gringotts. She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her. **

**"What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid ... Oh, it's wonderful to see you two again ... Are you coming into Gringotts, Cris?"**

**"As soon as I've found the Weasley's," said Cris. **

**"Yeh won't have ter wait," grinned Hagrid. Cris and Hermione looked around; sprinting up the crowded street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr. Weasley.**

"I think we all were frantic." George said.

"It's nice to know that you all care about her." Lily said.

"Well she is a part of our family apparently even more so in the future." Mrs. Weasley said smiling at Lily J.

**"Cris," Mr. Weasley panted. "We hoped you'd only gone one grate to far ..." He mopped his glistening bald patch. "Molly's frantic – she's coming now."**

**"Where did you come out?" Ron asked. **

**"Knockturn Alley," said Hagrid grimly. **

**"Brilliant!" said Fred and George together. **

**"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously. **

"We don't want to go there now," the twins and Ron said.

"Good, you don't want to." Cris said.

**"I should ruddy well hope not," growled Hagrid. **

**Mrs. Weasley now came galloping into view, her handbag swinging wildly in one hand, Ginny just clinging onto the other. **

**"Oh, Cris – oh, my dear – you could have been anywhere –"**

**Gasping for breath she pulled a large cloths brush out of her bag and began to sweeping off the soot Hagrid hadn't managed to beat away. Mr. Weasley took Cris' glasses, gave them a tap of his wand and returned them as good as new.**

"That is a very useful spell, especially if you have glasses." James said.

"And for other stuff as well." Cris said.

**"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found her Hagrid!"). "See yer at Hogwarts!" **

**And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street. **

**"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Cris asked Ron and Hermione as they climbed the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father." **

**"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr. Weasley sharply behind them. **

**"No he was selling."**

**"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something ..." **

"It would be a good thing if you got him for something Arthur." Sirius said.

**"You be careful Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley sharply, as they were ushered into the bank by a bowing goblin at the door. "That family's trouble, don't go biting off more than you can chew" **

**"So you don't think am a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr. Weasley indignantly,**

"As long as it was in a fair fight then you could be a match for him." Cris said.

"Father wouldn't fight fair, it's not his way." Draco said.

**but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them. **

**"But you're **_**Muggles**_**!" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. **

**"We must have a drink! What's that you got there? Oh, you're changing your Muggle money. Molly look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten pound note in Mr. Granger's hand.**

"Mum and Dad thought you were kind of weird at first but they liked you in the end." Hermione said with a smile.

**"Met you back here," said Ron to Hermione, as the Weasley's and Cris were led off to their underground vaults by another Gringotts goblin. **

**The vaults were reached by means of small, goblin-driven carts that sped along miniature train-tracks through the bank's underground tunnels. Cris enjoyed the breakneck journey down to the Weasley's vault, but felt dreadful, far worse than she had in Knockturn Alley, when it was opened.**

**There was a very small pile of silver sickles inside, and just one gold Galleon. **

The Weasley's blushed brightly.

"Once I'm cleared I can give you the money that was stolen from your brothers Molly." Sirius said.

"Thank you Sirius," Molly said with tears in her eyes.

**Mrs. Weasley felt right into the corners before sweeping the whole lot into her bag. Cris felt worse when they reached her vault. She tried to block the content from view as she hastily shoved handfuls of coins into a leather bag. **

Cris blushed while the Weasley's just smiled.

"So that's what you were doing." Fred said laughing.

**Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend, Lee Jordan. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went to the second-hand robe shop. Mr. Weasley was insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. **

Mrs. Weasley smiled and kissed her husband much to their kids' complaints. Cris smiled sadly thinking about her parents. She more than wished multiple times that she would have a normal life, but Fate was cruel and decided to give her the most challenging life it can.

Sensing that his pup was thinking Sirius went over to her and hugged her. Cris hugged him back and brought her back to his seat and had her sit in his lap.

"What's the matter pup?" Sirius asked.

"Life isn't fair and Fate's a bitch." Cris mumbled.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Because instead of me growing up with a happy family with younger siblings and parents that tease and embarrass me I grow up being abused and unloved lied to for most of my life. It's not fair Siri; I just want to be normal." Cris said.

"I know sweetheart, I know. Just let it out." Sirius said rubbing her back as she silently cried into his shoulder.

"Is she alright?" Lily asked. Sirius shook his head as he held her tighter to him, comforting her as best he could.

"Go ahead and continue Prongs, she'll be alright." Remus said. James nodded and continued reading.

**"We'll all meet a Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your school books," said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs. **

"We don't want to go anymore." The twins said. They were startled that the girl they love started to cry after she saw their parents kiss.

**Cris, Ron and Hermione strolled off along winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver and bronze jangling cheerfully in Cris' pocket was clamoring to be spent, so she bought three large strawberry and peanut-butter ice-creams which they slurped happily **

"Cris is always doing that, she always buys treats for us whenever we are out like that." Hermione said smiling sadly at her best friend who was still silently crying into her godfather's shoulder.

"That's sweet of her." Mrs. Weasley said smiling.

**as they wandered up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows. Ron gazed longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the window of 'Quality Quidditch Supplies' until Hermione dragged them off to buy ink and parchment next door. In Gambol and Japes Wizarding joke shop, they met Fred, George and Lee Jordan, who were stocking up on 'Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks', and old clocks covered in potion stains they found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called **_**Prefects Who Gained Power. **_

**"A study of Hogwarts Prefects and their later careers," Ron read aloud of the back cover. "That sounds fascinating ..."**

**"Go away," Percy snapped. **

**"Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out ... he wants to be Minister of Magic ..." Ron told Cris and Hermione in an undertone, as they left Percy to it.**

"I wouldn't surprised if he did end up being the minister." Ron muttered.

**An hour later, they headed for Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows. **

_**GILDEROY LOCKHART **_

_**will be signing copies of his autobiography **_

_**MAGICAL ME **_

_**today 12.30 – 4.30 pm **_

"I remember reading about this; I could tell by your face that you hated your fame." Remus said. Cris turned and gave him a small smile with the tears still going down her face. Once she started crying it always takes a while for her to stop.

**"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"**

**The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age. **

**A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying "Calmly, please ladies ... don't push, there ... mind the books, now ..."**

**Cris, Ron and Hermione squeezed inside. A long queue wounded right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of break with a banshee, and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasley's were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger. **

**"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. **

**"We'll be able see him in a minute ..." **

**Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzling white teeth to the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue which exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.**

"He is such a fraud." Ron said trying to make his best friend laugh.

"That he was," Cris muttered into Sirius' shoulder.

**A short irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash. **

**"Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet." **

**"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it. **

**Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. **

"It was all your fault Ron," Cris said with a small smile.

"Sorry Cris," Ron said with a smile as well.

**He looked up. He saw Ron – and then he saw Cris.**

"Aw man," Padfoot said.

"And what's worse is that you can't get away." Moony said. Everyone was now trying to make Cris smile through her tears.

**He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Cristal Potter?"**

**The crowd parted, whispering excitedly. Lockhart dived forward, seized Cris' arm and pulled her to the front. The crowd burst into applause.**

Cris shuddered and that left Sirius wondering what happened.

**Cris' face burned as Lockhart shook her hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasley's.**

**"Nice big smile, Cris," said Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."**

"She can get on the front page by herself without you standing right next to her." Bill growled.

**When he finally let go of Cris' hand, she could hardly feel her fingers. She tried to sidle back over to the Weasley's,**

"We saw you; your face just screamed escape!" Hermione said.

"You could tell on the front page as well." Remus said with a chuckle.

"Thanks," Cris said. Remus could tell that she was almost done, her eyes were red but still had stray tears in them.

**but Lockhart threw an arm around her waist and clamped her tightly to his side. **

**"Ladies and Gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Cris here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, she only wanted to come to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present her free of charge –" the crowd applauded again,**

"Which I gave to Mrs. Weasley." Cris said.

**"- she had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Cris a little shake that made her glasses to end of her nose, 'that she would be shortly getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure in announcing that, this September, I will be taking up the post Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."**

"Ah man, I knew you had him but it being confirmed like this just sucks." Sirius said. Cris chuckled a little bit before James continued reading.

**The crowd cheered and clapped and Cris found herself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under the weight, she managed to make her way out of the limelight**

"You were pretty quick about it." George said.

"I didn't like being touched by him, it felt weird." Cris said.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, it just felt weird." Cris said.

**to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron. **

**"You have these," she mumbled to her, tipping the books into her cauldron. "I'll buy my own –"**

**"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a voice Cris had no trouble recognizing. She straightened up and found herself face to face with Draco, who was wearing his usual sneer. **

**"Famous Cristal Potter," said Malfoy. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."**

"Sorry about that, for all I knew you looked like you enjoyed it." Draco said.

"I've become very good at hiding my emotions." Cris said with a shrug.

**"Leave her alone, she didn't want all that!" said Ginny. **

**It was the first time Ginny had spoken in front of Cris. She was glaring at Malfoy.**

"Ah, she speaks!" Bill said with a smile. Ginny glared at her eldest brother who clamed up.

"You know I was slightly taken aback by that." Draco muttered his cheeks tinged pink.

**"Potter, you've got yourself a fan!" drawled Malfoy. Ginny went scarlet as Ron and Hermione fought their way across the room, both clutching stacks of Lockhart's books. **

**"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at Malfoy as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Cris here, eh?"**

"You thought I sent Dobby?" Draco asked.

"Well you seemed a likely choice at the time." Ron said with a shrug.

**"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parent will have to go hungry for a month to pay for that lot." **

**Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into his cauldron, too, and started towards Malfoy, but Cris and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket. **

**"Now, now Draco, Play nicely" **

**It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way. **

**"Miss Potter," he breathed at Cris, "forgive me." Before Cris could protest he pulled her forward pushing up her fringe to show her scar to the fullest possible. **

"Let go of her!" snarled the twins, Sirius, Lily, Robin, Remus, James, Padfoot, Moony, Lily J and Teddy.

**"Your scar is legend," he said "as of course the wizard who gave it to you." Cris yanked herself away from him. **

"Good girl," Moody said.

**"Voldemort killed my parents," she said coldly, "he was nothing more than a murderer." **

"That's my girl." James said proudly.

**"Very brave saying the name," sneered Mr. Malfoy, "Or very foolish." **

"Nope, just a mixture of both I think." Ginny said. Cris smiled and James continued reading.

**"Ron! Ginny! Cris!" said Mr. Weasley struggling over with Fred and George. **

**"What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside."**

**"Well, well, well Arthur Weasley." said Mr. Malfoy. **

**"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley coldly. **

**"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids ... I hope they pay you enough overtime?"**

**He reached out into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amidst the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of **_**A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration. **_

**"Obviously not," he said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgraces to the name of Wizards if they don't even pay you for it?"**

**Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.**

"You are very observant, you know that?" Mr. Weasley said.

"Sorry, but you can't always help what you think." Cris said quietly.

"Too true," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

**"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard Malfoy," he said. **

Cheers were heard throughout the room.

**"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower – "**

**There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spell books came thundering down on all their heads;**

"Arthur, Arthur, Arthur!" chanted the marauders.

"Dad, Dad, Dad!" the twins, Bill and Charlie chanted.

**there was a yell of "Get him, Dad!" from Fred; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!"; the crowd stamped backwards, knocking more shelves over; "Gentlemen, please – please!" cried the assistant and then , louder than all, "Break it up, there, gents, break it up –"**

**Hagrid was wading towards them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an **_**Encyclopedia of Toadstools**_**. **

"Father a black eye by the time we got home." Draco said with a smile. Everyone was now either chuckling or smiling widely.

**He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering malice. **

Cris looked down thinking that if only she could have seen the diary then nothing could have happened this year.

"Cris it wasn't your fault, you know that right?" Ginny asked. Cris smiled at her but said nothing so James continued reading.

**"Here, girl – take your book – it's the best your father can give you –"**

**Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned Draco and swept from the shop. **

**'Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listen' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now – let's get out of here." **

"Not everyone is like that; your great grandfather was a pretty decent man Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said.

"So what you're saying is 'don't judge people by their parents' actions'?" Cris asked.

"Exactly," Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling madly. Snape looked down rethinking his past actions on the young girl that life has been so cruel to.

**The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them from leaving, but he barley came up to Hagrid waist and seemed to think better of it. **

**They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley beside her with fury. **

"You been on that side of her fury, haven't you Siri?" Robin asked smiling at Sirius. Sirius just smirked but looked away not looking anyone in the eye, which made the past and present marauders laugh.

**"A fine example to set to your children ... brawling in public ... what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought ..."**

**"He was pleased,' said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking the bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report – said it was all publicity."**

**But it was subdued group who headed back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Cris, the Weasley's and all their shopping would be travelling back to The Burrow using Floo powder. They said goodbye to the Grangers, who were leaving the pub for the Muggle street on the other side. Mr. Weasley started to ask about how bus stops worked, but stopped quickly at the look on Mrs. Weasley's face. **

**Cris took off her glasses and put them safely in her pocket before helping herself to Floo powder. It defiantly wasn't her favorite way to travel. **

"It's not my favorite either." James and Lily said as he closed the book.

"That's the chapter." James said.

"Well, before we start the next chapter, I think we should break for lunch." Mrs. Weasley said.

Mrs. Weasley, Lily, Ginny, Robin, Lily J and Cris went to start on lunch leaving Tonks out of the kitchen. While the past marauders and the Weasley boys looked over at Sirius to ask what that was all about.


	7. Chapter 5: The Whomping Willow

The girls were in the kitchen cooking lunch so the guys were free to talk about anything and everything. The twins cornered Sirius to see why their girl was crying.

"So what was that about?" Fred asked.

"She said that Life was cruel and Fate was a bitch." Sirius said sighing.

"Why would she think that?" Ron asked.

"Because she didn't have a chance to be normal. What she wants more than anything in the world is what you have Ron. Siblings to tease you, parents to embarrass you, the whole nine. She's jealous of you because you do. But most of all she's pissed at Voldemort for taking that chance away from her." Remus said.

"When all this is over we are so changing the future." James said. He wanted his little girl to grow up and have a normal life.

Soon the girls came back in with a trey full of sandwiches and sat down eating them as Lily picked up the book to read chapter 5.

"**Chapter 5: The Whomping Willow," **Lily read.

"And what were you doing by that tree?" James asked.

"It wasn't on purpose, but it will explain." Cris said.

"You didn't get hurt did you?" Remus asked.

"No," Cris said.

**The end of the summer came too quickly for Cris' liking. She was looking forward to going back to Hogwarts, but her month at The Burrow had been the happiest of her life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron **

"So it is true," Ron murmured.

"You know Cris, you are a part of the family." Bill said.

"Even though you don't have the red hair or the freckles," Fred said with a smile. Cris chuckled and hugged all the Weasley's.

**when she thought of the Dursley's and the sort of welcome she could expect next time she turned up at Privet Drive.**

"It wasn't too bad was it?" James asked.

"Nothing more than usual." Cris said.

**On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner which included some of Cris' favorite things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding.**

"Mmmm," Lily and James said.

"So that's where I get it from." Cris exclaimed. Everyone chuckled until Lily continued.

**Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from the ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed.**

"I like that routine." James said.

"It is relaxing." Cris said.

**It took a long while to get started next morning. They were up at cock-crow, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do. Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills, people kept colliding on the stairs,**

"Well they are a little narrow." Bill said.

"Question is why was everyone colliding?" Charlie asked.

"I almost tripped, I always do that when I'm in a hurry." Cris said with a sheepish smile.

"So that's where Remus gets it from." Lily J exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"My brother Remus, in fact he was born on your birthday which is why mom named him Remus. Anyway he was so excited when he was about to be sorted that he almost tripped as he walked up to the sorting hat." Lily J said.

"Cris did that too!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Can we talk about my almost clumsiness later?" Cris asked with a blush apparent on her cheeks.

**half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands, and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as the crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car.**

"Oh, sorry Mr. Weasley." Cris said sheepishly.

"It's alright Cris, you had no idea that your thoughts would be written down in a book." Mr. Weasley said. He looked over at his wife with uncertainly then Lily continued wondering what the two of them were talking about.

**Cris couldn't see how eight people, six large trunks, two owls and a rat were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. She had reckoned, of course, without the special features which Mr. Weasley had added.**

"Arthur, what did you do?" Mrs. Weasley asked menacingly.

"Nothing awful, just useful." Mr. Weasley said.

**"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Cris as he opened the boot and showed her how it had been magically expanded so that the trunks fitted easily. **

"I guess it's not as bad as making the thing fly." Mrs. Weasley conceded.

**When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Cris, Ron, Fred, George and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She said as she and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"**

"Anglia's are small, and don't have much room. It makes sense that Arthur put an expansion charm on it." Remus said.

**Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Cris turned for one last look of the house. She barely had time to wonder when she'd see it again **

"Every summer except for this year." Cris said sadly.

"Where did you go this summer?" Lily asked.

"Headquarters." Cris said simply but didn't explain any further.

**when they were back: George had forgotten his box of Filibusters fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard because Fred had forgotten his broomstick. They had almost reached the motorway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary.**

"I should have just left it, everything wouldn't have happened this year." Ginny said.

"You didn't know that this would happen." Ron said.

"I know, I just wish I would have told someone sooner." Ginny said.

**By the time she had clamored back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high. **

"It was all mum," Fred, George, Ginny and Ron said. Percy didn't say anything still thinking about how he has treated Cris.

**Mr. Weasley glanced at his wife. **

**"Molly, dear –"**

**"No, Arthur."**

**"No one would see. This little button here is an Invisibility Boost I installed – that'd get us up in the air – then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be the wiser ..."**

"Flying it would be faster." Sirius said.

"And we wouldn't have been so late." Cris said.

"How late were you?" Tonks asked.

"All in good time." Cris said with a smile.

**"I said no, Arthur, not in brought daylight."**

**They reached King's Cross at quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get the trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station. **

"Fifteen minutes, I think that's the latest that we've ever been." Charlie said.

"We were a bit rushed that year." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky bit was getting onto platform nine and three quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing the platforms nine and ten. It didn't hurt, **

"Unless it's blocked," Ron mumbled. Remus and Moony heard and their eyes widened.

**but it had to be done carefully so that no Muggles noticed you vanishing. **

**"Percy first," said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier. **

**Percy strode forward and vanished. Mr. Weasley went next, Fred and George followed. **

**"I'll go with Ginny and you two come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told Cris and Ron, grabbing Ginny's hand and set off. In the blink of an eye they were gone.**

"I should have stayed and made sure that you two got through." Mrs. Weasley said sighing.

"God, what happened?" Sirius asked.

**"Let's go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Cris. **

**Cris made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of her trunk and wheeled her trolley about to face the barrier. She felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. Both of them bent low over there handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully towards the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and –**

**CRASH**

"Crash?" Kingsley asked.

"What do you mean by crash?" Sirius asked. Ron and Cris didn't answer so Lily continued readin feeling very apprehensive.

**Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backwards. Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump. Cris was knocked off her feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly. People all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"**

**"Lost control of the trolley," Cris gasped, clutching her ribs as she got up.**

"How did that happen?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"My ribs collided with the handles of my trolley." Cris said with a shrug.

**Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of murmuring about cruelty to animals from around the surrounding crowd. **

"People have noticed you now, this is not good." Moody said.

**"Why can't we get through?" Cris hissed to Ron. **

**"I dunno –"**

**Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching them.**

"Not good," Sirius mumbled grabbing Robin's hand.

**"We're going to miss the train," Ron whispered. "I don't understand why the gateways sealed itself ..." **

"Why did it seal itself? You weren't doing anything that would alert the Muggles." Moony asked.

"It will be revealed shortly, I promise." Cris said.

**Cris looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ten seconds ... nine seconds ... **

**She wheeled her trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier, and pushed with all her might. The metal remained solid. **

**Three seconds ... two seconds ... one second ... **

**"It's gone," said Ron, sounding stunned. "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?"**

**Cris gave a hollow laugh. "The Dursley's haven't given me pocket money in six years." **

"They gave you some before?" Padfoot asked.

"Yeah, because we were in a store and Dudley was making a scene in a store asking for some money so Aunt Petunia gave us both some money." Cris said.

**Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier. **

**"Can't hear a thing," he said tensely. "What are we going to do? I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us." **

**They looked around. People were still watching them, mainly because of Hedwig's continuing screeches. **

**"I think we'd better go and wait by the car," said Cris. "We're attracting too much atten –"**

**"Cris!" said Ron, his eyes gleaming. "The car!" **

"You didn't!" James exclaimed.

"Oh they did," McGonagall said.

"That is awesome!" Padfoot exclaimed.

"It is not, they could have been killed!" screeched Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes they could have plus expose magic!" Lily shouted. Cris and Ron looked sheepish but didn't say anything.

"I can see that it was Ron's idea in the first place." Hermione said.

**"What about it?"**

**"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!"**

**"But I thought –"**

**"We're stuck right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy ..."**

"That makes it sound so official Ron." Tonks said with a laugh.

"I was twelve," Ron mumbled, his ears turning pink.

**Cris' feeling of panic turned suddenly to excitement. **

**"Can you fly it?"**

**"No problem" said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. **

**"C'mon, let's go, if we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express." **

"At least that's a decent plan, kiddo." Sirius said.

"As long as you are not seen." Lily said.

**And they marched off through the crowd of Muggles, out of the station and back into the side road where the Ford Angelia was parked. **

**Ron unlocked the cavernous with a series of taps with his wand. They heaved their trunks back in, put Hedwig on the back seat and got into the front. **

**"Check no one's watching," said Ron, starting the ignition with another tap of his wand. Cris stuck her head out of the window: traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but their street was empty. **

"At least they weren't being watched." Moony said.

"That's a relief; I just hope nothing else goes wrong." Robin said.

"This is Cris we're talking about, it will go wrong." Remus said with a sigh.

**"Ok," she said. **

**Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished – and so did they. Cris could feel the seat vibrating beneath her, hear the engine, feeling her hands on her knees and her glasses on her nose, but for all she could see, she had become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of parked cars.**

"You have a wild imagination, you know that?" James asked.

"Yeah, it does seem to run wild since I wasn't allowed to use it as a kid." Cris said.

**"Let's go," said Ron's voice from her right. **

**The ground and the dirty buildings on either side fell away, dropping down out of sight as the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and glittering below them. Then there was a popping noise and the car, Cris and Ron reappeared.**

"You need to disappear!" Sirius shouted.

"Get in the clouds!" Remus said.

**"Uh oh," said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. "It's faulty –"**

**Both of them pummeled it. The car vanished. Then it flickered back again. **

**"Hold on!" Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; they shot straight into the low woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy. **

**"Now what?" said Cris, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing on them from all sides. **

**"We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," said Ron. **

**"Dip back down again – quickly –"**

**They dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted around their seats, squinting at the ground –**

**"I can see it!" Cris yelled. "Right ahead – there!"**

**The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake.**

"Snake, you had to use that comparison, didn't you?" Ron asked.

"Yep, it did look like that." Cris said.

**"Due North," said Ron, checking the compass on the dashboard. "Ok, we'll just have to check on it every hour or so. Hold on ..." And they shot up through the clouds. A minute or so later, they burst out into the blaze of sunlight. **

**It was a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy cloud, the sky a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun. **

"That would be a great view especially at sunset." Lily said with a smile.

"It was, it was very calming almost as much as flying on a broom." Cris said.

"I can imagine." Padfoot said with a smile.

**"All we've got to worry about now are aeroplanes," said Ron. **

**They looked at each other and started to laugh; for a long time, they couldn't stop.**

"Why were you laughing?" James asked.

"I have no idea," Ron said.

"It might have been the adrenaline." Cris said.

"Could be," Remus said.

**It was as though they had been plunged into a fabulous dream. This, thought Cris, was the only way to travel: past swirls and turrets of snowy cloud, in a car full of hot, bright sunlight, with a fat pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and the prospect of seeing Fred and George's jealous faces when they landed smoothly and spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle.**

"That didn't quite happen," Ron said.

**They made regular checks on the train as they flew further and further north, each dip beneath the clouds showing them a different view. London was soon far behind them, replaced by neat green fields which gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, villages with tiny toy churches and a great city alive with cars like multi-colored ants. **

A couple people shook their heads at that.

**Several uneventful hours later, however, Cris had to admit that some of the fun was wearing off. **

**The toffees had made them extremely thirsty and they had nothing to drink. She and Ron had pulled of their jumpers, but Cris' T-shirt was sticking to the back of her seat her glasses kept sliding down the end of her sweaty nose. **

"I wished I had brought along hair ties that was unbearable on my neck." Cris said.

"I can imagine, do you have my thick hair as well?" Lily asked.

"I guess so, plus my black hair it's a disaster waiting to happen." Cris said.

"It seems as though the two of you were already punished," McGonagall said.

"Yeah, just a bit." Ron said.

**She was trying to move her hair which was overheating her neck, cursing that she never had a hair bobbles on her, **

"I always carry them now," Cris said showing her wrist where she kept them.

**but she didn't like tying her hair up so why would she have them? **

"You should, you look lovely with it up." Ginny said.

"I like it down most of the time though." Cris whined crossing her arms. That made Ginny and Luna laugh.

"You can't control the length of your hair?" Tonks asked.

"No, I can just change its color." Cris said.

**She had stopped noticing the fantastic cloud shapes now, and was thinking longingly of the train miles below, where you could buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from a trolley pushed by a plump witch. Why hadn't they been able to get onto the platform nine and three quarters?**

**"Can't be much further can it?" croaked Ron, hours later still, as the sun started to sink beneath the floor of the cloud, staining it a deep pink.**

"Good, you're not going to get heat stroke." Lily said.

"Yeah, we weren't exactly prepared for that situation." Cris said.

**"Ready for another check on the train?"**

**It was still right below them, winding its way past a snow-capped mountain. It was much darker beneath the canopy of clouds. **

**Ron put his foot down on the accelerator and drove them upwards again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine, and Cris' door flew open.**

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked.

"I was fine, Ron pulled me back in." Cris said with a shrug.

"Pulled you back in?" Sirius asked faintly.

**Cris fell out grabbing the inside handle of the car door quickly,**

"Thank god for you seeker skills." Ron said.

"No kidding," Cris said.

**she clung to it dangling over hundreds of feet in the air. **

Cris heard the twins whimper and cling to her tighter as if they were afraid of her disappearing on them.

**"Cris!" yelled Ron leaning over to try and help her back in,**

"See, Ron pulls me back in." Cris said with a smile towards her best friend.

**Cris tried to push herself up, as Ron held out his hand. **

**"Hold on!" he yelled, she reached grabbed his hand;**

Sighs of relief were heard around the room.

**but it slipped from her grasp.**

"Come on Prongslet, you can do it." Padfoot said.

**"Hold ON!" Ron yelled louder, his eyes wide with worry. **

**"I'm trying!" Cris yelled back. "Your hands are all sweaty."**

"Not good," Robin said.

"Mine were too, it was not a very good combination." Cris said.

**Finally with one big reach Cris grasped Ron's hand tightly**

"Is there something you guys forgot to tell us?" Bill asked with a smirk on his face. Cris and Ron looked at each and grimaced.

"Absolutely not," Ron said.

"That would be like dating my brother." Cris said with a shudder.

"But you're dating the twins." Charlie said.

"That doesn't count." Cris said leaning in and kissing the twins.

**and he help drag her back into the car. When her feet were in; she slammed the door shut. Panting, Cris and Ron shared nervous glances. **

**"Best put the lock on," he said clicking a button on his side.**

"Should have done that in the first place." Lily mumbled.

"Yeah, we probably should have." Ron said.

**The car gave another whine.**

"Don't throw either of them out again." Mrs. Weasley begged.

**"It's probably just tired," said Ron. "It's never been this far before ..."**

**And they both pretended not to notice the whining growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. **

**Cris pulled her jumper back on, trying to ignore the way the windscreen wipers were now waving as though in protest.**

"This isn't going to end well is it?" Remus asked.

"Just remember the title Moony; it's not going to end well." Sirius said.

**"Not far," said Ron, more to the car than Cris, "not far now," and he patted the dashboard nervously. **

**When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, they had to squint through the darkness for a landmark they knew. **

**"There!" Cris shouted, making Ron and Hedwig jump. "Straight ahead!"**

**Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake stood the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle.**

"Okay, you made, now just land and pretend that this never happened." James said.

"Um dad, not to be mean or anything but it's never that simple for me." Cris said.

"One can wish." James said with a shrug.

**But the car began to shudder and was losing speed. **

**"Come on," said Ron cajolingly,**

"You can do it car, just a little further." Padfoot said.

**giving the steering wheel a little shake, "nearly there, come on –"**

**The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the bonnet. Cris found herself gripping the edges of her seat very hard as they flew towards the lake.**

Everyone was hoping that they didn't hurt too badly.

**The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his window, Cris saw the smooth, black, glassy surface of the water, a mile below. Ron's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The car wobbled again. **

**"Come on," Ron muttered. **

**They were over the lake ... the castle was right ahead ... Ron put his foot down. **

**There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely.**

"Shit," muttered James which earned his a slap from Lily.

**"Uh oh," said Ron, into the silence. **

**The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall.**

"No!" shouted everyone. Cris and Ron rolled their eyes as the people around them tightened their grips on them.

**"Noooooo!" Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch and then out over the black lawns, losing height all the time. **

**Ron let go of the steering wheel and pulled out his wand out of his back pocket. **

**"STOP! STOP! STOP!" he yelled,**

"That won't work," Bill said his face pale.

**whacking the dashboard and the windscreen, but they were still plummeting, the ground flying up towards them... **

**'MIND THAT TREE!'**

"Of course you end up in that tree." Remus said.

"We were fine; the car took the brunt of the damage." Cris said.

"I really hate your luck Cristal." Remus said.

**Cris bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late –**

**CRUNCH. **

**With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled bonnet; Hedwig was shrieking in terror, a golf-ball sized lump was throbbing on Bella's head where she had hit the windscreen,**

"You didn't tell us that." McGonagall said.

"It didn't hurt for long." Cris said.

"You still should have told us Potter, that could have been more serious than it was." Snape said. Cris looked at him shocked, when did he start caring about her, she thought.

**and to her right, Ron let out a low, despairing groan. **

**"Are you Ok?" Cris said urgently. **

**"My wand," said Ron, in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand."**

**It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters. **

**"Be thankful it wasn't your neck." Cris gasped,**

"True, wands are replaceable, severe damage could have been done if you had broken your neck that can be permanent." McGonagall said.

**but before she could open her mouth to say she was sure they'd be able to mend it up at school. At that very moment, something hit her side of the car with a force of a charging bull, **

Remus plucked her from the twin's lap and placed her on his much to Cris' displeasure.

**sending her lurching sideways into Ron **

"You know for someone who was so small, that really hurt." Ron said. Cris glared at him and he fell silent.

**just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof. **

Remus wrapped his arms tighter around her making her scowl.

**"What's happen –?" Ron gasped, staring through the windscreen, and Cris looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python **

"What is with you and describing things as snakes?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, foreshadowing?" Cris asked.

"And what does that mean?" James asked.

**smash into it. The tree they had hit was attacking them. **

"The shocked me to no end." Cris said.

"I bet it did," Sirius said.

"I'm sorry," Remus and Moony said. Robin slapped him upside the head.

"You didn't ask for Greyback to bite you, we had no idea that he would do that after dad pissed him off. So don't you dare blame this on yourself Remmy." Robin said. Remus looked at his sister and smiled and Lily continued reading.

**Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every inch of the car it could reach. **

"Can you loosen up a bit Remus? I can't breathe." Cris said. Remus didn't answer but he did loosen a bit.

**"Aaargh!" said Ron, as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door; **

His brothers and sister's faces drained of color.

**the windscreen was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously at the roof, which seemed to be caving in –**

**"Run for it!" Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second he had been knocked backwards into Cris' lap**

"Wow, first Neville now Ron, what is it with you guys and knocking into Cris?" Sirius asked.

"We're just clumsy." Neville said with a shrug.

**by a vicious upper cut from another branch. **

**"We're done for!" he moaned, as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating – the engine restarted. **

"Get out of there!" everyone yelled.

"That was right in my ear." Cris said rubbing her ears.

**"Reverse!" Cris yelled, and the car shot backwards. The tree was still trying to hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach.**

Relief was apparent on all the faces around the room.

**"That," panted Ron, "was close. Well done, car."**

**The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two small clunks, the doors flew open Cris felt her seat tip side-ways: next thing she knew she was sprawled on the damp ground. Loud thuds told her that the car was ejecting their luggage from the boot. Hedwig's cage flew through the air and burst open; she rose out of it with a loud, angry screech and sped off towards the castle without a backwards look. **

"Damn, that owl has some serious attitude." Tonks said with a smile.

"I know, but I wouldn't trade her for the world." Cris said.

**Then, dented, scratched and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear light blazing angrily.**

**"Come back!" Ron yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. "Dad'll kill me!" **

"I don't think it's dad that you have to worry about." Bill said.

"It's mum you have to worry about." Charlie said.

"We know," the trio said.

**But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from it exhaust. **

**"Can you believe out luck?" said Ron miserably, bending down to pick up Scabbers the rat. **

"I can't believe he slept in the same room as us." Cris muttered.

"He didn't do anything, did he?" Remus asked in her ear.

"I don't think so." Cris said.

"We'll get it checked out, just in case." Remus said. Cris nodded and Lily continued reading.

**"Of all the trees we could hit, we had to get the one that hits back." **

"That's just my rotten luck." Cris said.

"Yep, but we wouldn't have it any other way, your good luck has gotten out of situations as well." Hermione said.

"Yes it has at times." Cris said.

**He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, which was still flailing its branches threateningly. **

**"Come on," said Cris wearily, "we'd better get up to the school ..."**

**It wasn't all the triumphant arrival they had pictured. Stiff, cold and bruised, they seized the ends of their trunks and began dragging them up the grassy slope, towards the great oak front doors. **

"Home," Cris said with a sigh as Remus gave her one last hug before letting her go. She went back over and sat in between the twins again putting her head on George's shoulder.

**"I think the feast's already started," said Ron, dropping his trunk at the foot of front steps and crossing quietly to look through a brightly lit window. "Hey, Cris, come and look – it's the Sorting!"**

**Cris hurried over and, together, she and Ron peered in at the Great Hall. **

**Innumerable candle were hovering in mid-air over four long, crowded tables, making the golden plates and goblets sparkle. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling which mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with stars. **

**Through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, Cris saw a long line of scared-looking first-years filing into the Hall. Ginny was amongst them, easy to see because of her vivid Weasley hair. **

"Thank god for that, we could spot any of you easily." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but it can be a pain as well." Cris said.

"Don't we know it." The Weasley's said.

**Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her hair in a tight bun, was placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers. **

"Did you see mine?" Ginny asked.

"Or mine?" Luna asked.

"No, only Colin's." Cris said with a slight grimace.

"Who's Colin?" Sirius, Lily and the past marauder's asked.

"A person who is Cris' personal stalker." Ron said with a laugh.

"He's annoying, you try having him follow you around." Cris said.

**Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed and dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin). Cris well remembered putting it on, exactly a year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its decision as it muttered aloud in her ear. For a few horrible seconds she had feared that the hat was going to put her in Slytherin,**

"It wouldn't have mattered to me," Lily said.

"I would have been disappointed but I wouldn't care in the end." James said. Cris smiled and Lily continued reading.

**the house which turned out more dark witches and wizards than any other – but she ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley's. **

**Last term, Cris and Ron helped Gryffindor win the House Championship, beating Slytherin for the first time in seven years. **

The marauders, past and present cheered while Draco grimaced and scowled at the trio who smiled back innocently at him.

**A very small, mousey-haired boy had been called forward to place the hat on his head. Cris' eyes wandered past him to where Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, sat watching the Sorting from the staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon glasses shining brightly in the candlelight. Several seats along, Cris saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine. And there at the end was Hagrid, huge and hairy, drinking deeply from his goblet.**

**"Hang on ..." Cris muttered to Ron. "There's an empty chair at the staff table ... Where's Snape?" **

"That's not good," Padfoot said.

"Where is he?" Moony asked.

"I don't think we want to know." James said.

**Professor Snape was Cris' least favorite teacher. Cris also happened to be Snape's least favorite student. Cruel, sarcastic and disliked by everyone but the students from his own house (Slytherin), Snape taught potions. **

**"Maybe he's ill!" said Ron hopefully.**

"Hopeful thinking," Padfoot said as Ron's ears turned red.

**"Maybe he's **_**left**_**," said Cris, "because he missed out on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job **_**again**_**!" **

"Wishful thinking," Padfoot said again. Cris blushed and looked away.

"He's standing right behind you, isn't he?" Remus asked.

"Of course he is. It's Cris' luck." Sirius said.

**"Or be might have been sacked!" said Ron enthusiastically. "I mean everybody hates him –"**

**"Or maybe,' said a very cold voice right behind them, 'he's waiting to hear why you two didn't arrive on the school train." **

Ron and Cris' face turned bright red and looked away from everyone. Cris hiding her face in Fred's chest.

"I hate your luck." Sirius said.

"We do too." Ron and Hermione said.

**Cris spun around. There, in his black robes ripping the cold breeze, stood Severus Snape. He was a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose and greasy, shoulder-length black hair, **

"Thank you for that oh so lovely description, Potter." Snape sneered.

"It's what I do." Cris said looking straight into Snape's eyes as if daring him to do something or say something else. He didn't so Lily went on.

**and at this moment, he was smiling in a way that told Cris she and Ron were in very deep trouble. **

"Is that look especially for my daughter or do you give it to someone else as well?" Lily asked. Snape didn't answer which infuriated Lily more but she continued reading.

**"Follow me," said Snape. **

**Not daring to look at each other, Cris and Ron followed Snape right up the steps into the vast, echoing Entrance Hall, which was light up with flaming torches. A delicious smell of food was wafting from the Great Hall, but Snape lead them away from the warmth and light, down a narrow stone staircase that led straight into the dungeons. **

"Oh Merlin, please tell me that the punishment isn't too bad?" James asked.

"It wasn't," Cris and Ron said but they didn't specify what they got. This made James a little nervous.

**"In!" he said, opening a door halfway down the cold passageway and pointing. **

**They entered Snape's office, shivering. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars, which floated all manner of revolting things Cris didn't really didn't want to know the name of at the moment. The fireplace was dark and empty. Snape closed the door and turned to look at them. **

**"So," he said softly, "the train isn't good enough for the famous Cristal Potter**

"I really wish he wouldn't do that." Cris said.

"Do what?" James asked.

"Mention the fame, I hate it! I wish I wasn't, it's nice at times but most of the time it's just plain annoying. I just want to be left alone so I could just be me. Hang out with my friends, do girl stuff with Hermione and Ginny, that kind of thing. I can't really do that because I have the media following me." Cris said.

"Nicely put pup." Sirius said with a smile.

**or her faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we?"**

**"No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it –"**

**"Silence!" said Snape coldly.**

"Good grief let them explain!" Remus shouted.

"I wasn't exactly aware of the whole situation." Snape sneered.

**"What have you done with the car?"**

**Ron gulped. This wasn't the first time Snape had given Cris impression of being able to read minds.**

"Don't you dare read their minds." Sirius snapped glaring at the potion's master.

**But a moment later, she understood, as Snape unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet. **

**"You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES. He began to read out loud. **

**"'Two Muggles in London convinced they saw an old car flying over the post office tower ... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her washing ... Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to the police' ... six or seven Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?" he said looking up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. "Dear, dear ... his own son ..." **

"Sure give them the guilt trip." James mumbled.

**Cris felt as though she had been walloped in the stomach by one of the mad tree's larger branches. If anyone found out Mr. Weasley had bewitched the car ... she hadn't thought of that...**

"I'll be alright Cris, what's done is done." Mr. Weasley said.

**"I noticed, in my search of the park, that a considerable amount of damage had been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Snape went on. **

**"That tree did more damage to us than we –" Ron blurted out.**

"Brilliant." The twins said as everyone either chuckled or smiled.

**"**_**Silence**_**!" snapped Snape again. "Most unfortunately, you are not in my house and the decision to expel you does not rest with me.**

"Thank god we're not." Cris said to Ron. They shared a smile until Lily continued reading.

**I shall go fetch the people who do have the happy power. You will wait here."**

**Cris and Ron stared at each other, white-faced. Cris didn't feel hungry any more. She now felt extremely sick. She tried not to look at a large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a shelf behind Snape's desk. If Snape had gone to fetch Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, they were hardly any better off. She might be fairer than Snape, but she was still extremely strict.**

"But she's not that strict." James said.

**Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough it was Professor McGonagall who accompanied him. Cris had seen Professor McGonagall angry on several occasions, but either she had forgotten just how thin her mouth could go, or she had never seen her this angry before. **

"We've seen her angrier." The marauders said.

**She raised her wand the moment she entered; Cris and Ron both flinched, **

"I wasn't going to hex you or anything like that." McGonagall said.

"We know that now." Ron said.

**but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, where flames suddenly erupted.**

**"Sit," she said, and they both backed into chairs by the fire.**

**"Explain," she said, her glasses glinting ominously.**

"Oohh, not good." Lily J said.

"And you would know how?" Cris asked.

"Come on, Fred and George are my fathers, my grandfather is a marauder and my god grandfather is one as well. So trouble making is in my genes." Lily J said.

They noticed that Teddy wasn't looking at anybody either.

"Do we even have to ask?" Tonks asked.

"It's basically the same as Lils, but Keiran and Scarlett helped as well." Teddy said.

"Who's Scarlett?" everyone asked.

"Sirius' and Robin's daughter. She's five years younger than Keiran." Lily J said.

"Would you look at that two kids are they anything like Sirius?" James asked.

"Absolutely." Lily J and Teddy said.

"Alright, back to the book." Lily said.

**Ron launched into the story, starting with the barrier at the station refusing to let them through.**

**"— so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn't get on the train."**

**"Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl?" Professor McGonagall said coldly to Cris.**

"Dobby probably would have stopped the letter from going through." Luna said.

"True, I wouldn't put it past him." Cris said.

"So Dobby closed the barrier?" Sirius asked.

"When do you find out?" Remus asked.

"After a quidditch game." Cris said but didn't verify.

**Cris gaped at her. Now she said it, that seemed the obvious thing to have done.**

"Of course, always after the deed is done is when you learn that it could have been avoided in the first place." Moony said.

**"I — I didn't think —"**

**"That," said Professor McGonagall, "is obvious."**

Some of the group chuckled at that.

**There was a knock on the office door and Snape, now looking happier than ever, opened it.**

**There stood the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. Cris' whole body went numb. Dumbledore was looking unusually grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and Cris suddenly found herself wishing she and Ron were still being beaten up by the Whomping Willow.**

"He does kind of have that effect." Bill said.

**There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, "Please explain why you did this."**

**It would have been better if he had shouted.**

"It usually is." Padfoot said.

**Cris hated the disappointment in his voice. For some reason, she was unable to look Dumbledore in the eyes, and spoke instead to his knees. She told Dumbledore everything except that Mr. Weasley owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though she and Ron had happened to find a flying car parked outside the station. She knew Dumbledore would see through this at once, but Dumbledore asked no questions about the car. When Cris had finished, he merely continued to peer at them through his spectacles.**

**"We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron in a hopeless sort of voice.**

**"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Professor McGonagall.**

**"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron.**

**Cris looked quickly at Dumbledore.**

**"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight.**

"They wouldn't care; as long as she is never there then they are fine." Neville spat.

**I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you." **

"He is going to have to eat his words won't he?" Robin asked.

"Maybe," Ron and Cris said.

**Snape looked as though Christmas had been cancelled. **

Snape glared at the girl who just shrugged her shoulders.

**He cleared his throat and said, "Professor Dumbledore, these children have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree **

"Since when do you care about that tree?" Remus asked.

"I don't, I was just stating a point." Snape said.

— **surely acts of this nature —"**

**"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these children's punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva; I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample —" **

A few people smiled at that while Dumbledore had that familiar twinkle in his eyes.

**Snape shot a look of pure venom at Cris and Ron as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall, who was still eyeing them like a wrathful eagle.**

**"You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're bleeding."**

"I wish you had told us about the bump Potter," McGonagall said.

"It wasn't bad, just a slight headache that was gone an hour later." Cris said.

Everyone looked troubled at that.

**"Not much," said Ron, hastily wiping the cut over his eye with his sleeve. "Professor, I wanted to watch my sister being Sorted —"**

**"The Sorting Ceremony is over," said Professor McGonagall. "Your sister is also in Gryffindor."**

**"Oh, good," said Ron.**

**"And speaking of Gryffindor —" Professor McGonagall said sharply, but Cris cut in: **

**"Professor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so — so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points taken from it — should it?"**

"You know for a second you were channeling your father." McGonagall said.

"That is something I would have said." James said. Cris smiled at that and Lily continued reading.

**she finished, watching McGonagall anxiously.**

**Professor McGonagall gave her a piercing look, but she was sure she had almost smiled.**

"I bet she did," Padfoot said.

**Her mouth looked less thin, anyway.**

**"I will not take any points from Gryffindor," she said, and Cris' heart lightened considerably. "But you will both get a detention."**

**It was better than Cris had expected. As for Dumbledore's writing to the Dursley's, that was nothing. Cris knew perfectly well they'd just be disappointed that the Whomping Willow hadn't squashed her flat.**

People scowled again.

**Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and pointed it at Snape's desk. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop.**

**"You will eat in here and then go straight up to your dormitory," she said. "I must also return to the feast."**

**When the door had closed behind her, Ron let out a long, low whistle.**

**"I thought we'd had it," he said, grabbing a sandwich.**

**"So did I," said Cris, taking one, too.**

**"Can you believe our luck, though?" said Ron thickly through a mouthful of chicken and ham. "Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them." He swallowed and took another huge bite.**

"You two did what now?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Nothing," the twins said.

"We'll be talking later." She sneered.

**"Why couldn't we get through the barrier?"**

**Cris shrugged. "We'll have to watch our step from now on, though," she said, taking a grateful swig of pumpkin juice. "Wish we could've gone up to the feast…"**

**"She didn't want us showing off," said Ron sagely. "Doesn't want people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car."**

**When they had eaten as many sandwiches as they could (the plate kept refilling itself) they rose and left the office, treading the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the feast was over. They walked past muttering portraits and creaking suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until at last they reached the passage where the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower was hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

**"Password?" she said as they approached.**

**"Er —" said Cris.**

**They didn't know the new year's password, not having met a Gryffindor prefect yet, but help came almost immediately; they heard hurrying feet behind them and turned to see Hermione dashing toward them. **

"What would you we do without you Hermione?" Cris asked.

"Crash and burn." Hermione said simply.

**"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors — someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!"**

**"Well, we haven't been expelled," Cris assured her.**

Everyone chuckled and Lily continued.

**"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Professor McGonagall.**

**"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password."**

"Sorry, I didn't realize that you had already had a lecture." Hermione said.

**"It's 'wattlebird,'" said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point —"**

**Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Cris and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble in after them.**

**"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years —"**

"They still do," Lily J and Teddy said.

"Really?" everyone asked.

"Yep, people have tried to do it again but have failed miserably." Teddy said.

"Good, it wasn't all that fun." Cris said.

**"Good for you," said a fifth year Cris had never spoken to; someone was patting her on the back as though she'd just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"**

**Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but Cris could see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years,**

"He'll ruin all the fun." Ginny said.

"He kind of did that year when we were trying to help the school." Ron said. Percy looked sheepish but didn't say anything.

**and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off. Cris nudged Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron got the point at once.**

**"Got to get upstairs — bit tired," she said, and the two of them started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.**

**"'Night," Cris called back to Hermione, who was wearing a scowl just like Percy's.**

"Sorry but it was pretty similar." Cris said with a sheepish smile to her best friend. Hermione waved it off with a grin.

**They managed to get to the other side of the common room, still having their backs slapped, and gained the peace of the staircase. They hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of their old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. They entered the familiar, circular room, with its five four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks had been brought up for them and stood at the ends of their beds.**

**Ron grinned guiltily at Cris.**

**"I know I shouldn't've enjoyed that or anything, but…"**

"Enjoy it while you can." The marauder said.

"It never lasts and the next day will just be worse." James said. Will the other nodded in agreement.

**The dormitory door flew open and in came the other second year Gryffindor boys, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom.**

**"Unbelievable!" beamed Seamus.**

**"Cool," said Dean.**

**"Amazing," said Neville, awestruck.**

**Cris couldn't help it. She grinned, too.**

"Well I was twelve, it was cool at first." Cris said with a shrug.

"That's the chapter." Lily said and passed the book to Moony.


	8. Chapter 6: Gilderoy Lockhart

"**Chapter 6: Gilderoy Lockhart," **Moony read.

The students and the teachers that were there at the time groaned.

"Why does he get a chapter to himself?" Ron asked.

"Don't ask me, I didn't wright this book." Cris said.

**The next day, however, Cris barely grinned once. Things started to go downhill from breakfast in the Great Hall. **

"Ron got sent a howler didn't he?" Sirius asked. Ron nodded and Cris looked away.

"I would have sent one too, just so you know." Lily pointed out to her daughter. Cris just smiled and nodded.

"And I would send you a letter telling you that we've never done that and you have one upped the marauders." James said. Lily shook her head and Cris just laughed while Mrs. Weasley scowled.

**The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy grey). **

"What a nice way to start the day, with lazy weather." Padfoot said with a sigh.

**Cris and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, who had her copy of Voyages with Vampires propped open against a milk jug. There was a slight stiffness in the way she said "Morning," which told Cris that she was still disapproving of the way they had arrived. **

"I didn't mean to sound like that." Hermione said.

"Don't worry about it." Ron said.

"It's in the past Mia." Cris said with a smile.

**Neville Longbottom, on the other hand, greeted them cheerfully. Neville was a round-faced and accident-prone boy with the worst memory of anyone Cris had ever met. **

"I think my introduction is worse than Snape's." Neville said with a chuckle.

"Sorry Nev," Cris said.

"It's fine Cris, no harm done." Neville said.

**"Mail's due any minute — I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."**

**Cris had only just started her porridge when, sure enough, there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers. **

"Oh dear," the twins said.

**"Errol!" said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, Unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak. **

"Moony, you have to shout it, please." begged Padfoot.

"I'm not going to shout it Sirius," Moony said.

"You have to though, it's a howler." James said.

"I'm not going to shout it," Moony said and continued reading.

**"Oh, no —" Ron gasped.**

**"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger.**

"You didn't know what a howler was?" Sirius asked.

"No, but I do now." Hermione said.

"Yeah, it's not exactly something you read about, you just have to grow up with them." Remus said.

"I can remember my first one like it was yesterday." Sirius and Padfoot said.

"What was it about?" Cris asked her curiosity spiking.

"I'll tell you about it sometime." Sirius said with a grin and a wink.

"Hey Lils, remember when you got yours?" Teddy asked with a grin.

"That was not my fault, it was all James'." Lily J said.

"Well you tagged along," Teddy pointed out.

"Shut it, or I'll tell your mum and dad about your first one." Lily J said. Remus and Moony's eyes twitched and Tonks, Sirius, Padfoot, and James looked interested.

"Not now, dad, can you continue?" Teddy asked his teenaged dad.

**"It's not that — it's that."**

**Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to Cris, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode. **

"It does," everyone said.

"I think Lily's would explode," Sirius said.

"It probably would." James said. Lily didn't say anything she was just glaring at the two.

**"What's the matter?" said Cris.**

**"She's — she's sent me a Howler," said Ron faintly.**

**"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and" — he gulped —"it was horrible."**

**Cris looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope.**

**"What's a Howler?" she said.**

**But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter,**

"Sorry for not explaining," Ron said.

"I forgive, just this once." Cris said.

"Your expression when he opened it was priceless though." Neville said.

"Let me guess, if you weren't too busy cowering you would have laughed." Cris said dryly.

"Probably," Neville and Hermione said.

"Some friends you are." Cris mumbled. The twins chuckled and they both hugged her.

**which had begun to smoke at the corners.**

**"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes —"**

**Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Cris knew why. She thought for a moment it had exploded; a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.**

**"—STEALING THE CAR,**

"Come one Moony shout it," James begged.

"No," Moony said and continued to read.

**I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —" **

Moony then decided that he was going to read it loudly but just not shouting it.

**Mrs. Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.**

**"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND CRIS COULD BOTH HAVE DIED —"**

**Cris had been wondering when her name was going to crop up. She tried very hard to look as though she couldn't hear the voice that was making her eardrums throb. **

"You failed," Neville and Hermione said.

**"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME." **

Moony was nearly shouting to the end and Padfoot was grinning.

"That was close Moony." Padfoot said.

"Shut it you," Moony said.

Cris looked over at Sirius because she could see him grinning.

"What's the grin for?" Cris asked.

"How about I send you a Howler sometime this semester?" Sirius asked.

"That would be absolutely hilarious." Fred said.

"I can picture it now, 'Oh My God, Cristal Potter got a Howler from the Mass Murderer Sirius Black, he's going to kill her!' or something along those lines." George said.

"Mass Murderer?" the past marauders asked. Padfoot was pale and was looking at his future self.

"Thanks George, thank you so much." Remus said.

"It will explain in the next book, can you be patient?" Cris asked.

"I guess so," they muttered.

**Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked down at the top of Ron's head.**

**"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you —"**

**"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron.**

**Cris pushed her porridge away. Her insides were burning with guilt. Mr. Weasley was facing an inquiry at work. After all Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had done for her over the summer… **

"I'm really sorry for all of that." Cris said.

"Cris, don't worry about it's in the past and it's done with." Mr. Weasley said.

**But she had no time to dwell on this; Professor McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. Cris took hers and saw that they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first. **

"Not bad," James said.

"I still wish we had that," Ron said.

"Yeah, Binns, Snape, Trelawney and Umbridge, it makes me want to jump off of the Astronomy Tower." Cris said.

"That is a bad morning." James whistled.

"Who's Umbridge?" Padfoot asked.

"She's our DADA teacher and she teachers us absolutely nothing. All we do is read out of the text book." Ginny said.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Moony snarled.

"She's thinking that we are creating an army." Dumbledore said.

"Please tell me that you guys have taken things into your own hands." James begged.

"Maybe,"

"Possibly,"

"You may never know."

"So you have." Remus said with a smile. The trio grinned but didn't say anything.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together, crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. At least the Howler had done one good thing: Hermione seemed to think they had now been punished enough and was being perfectly friendly again. **

**As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. Cris, Ron, and Hermione had only just joined them when she came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart.**

"What is he doing there?" Robin asked.

"Making my life even more miserable." Cris said nonchalantly.

"We get to find out what he said to you." Ron said.

"I really don't want to know." Neville said.

"I don't think we want to know either." the twins said.

**Professor Sprout's arms were full of bandages, and with another twinge of guilt, Cris spotted the Whomping Willow in the distance, several of its branches now in slings.**

**Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and her fingernails would have made Aunt Petunia faint.**

"They are grinning aren't they?" Cris asked as she pointed to the twins.

"Yep," the kids said.

"I don't want to know what they're planning do I?" she asked.

"Probably not," Remus said with amusement evident in his voice.

"They still do that even though Dudley is cool now." Lily J said.

"He is, since when?" Cris asked.

"Since he married Hannah." Teddy said.

"Hannah, as in Hufflepuff Hannah, he married a witch?" Ginny asked with wide eyes.

"Yep, they have three kids and they take after Hannah, Erika, the oldest is in Hogwarts now." Lily J said.

"Wow, how did Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia react?" Cris asked.

"Well Uncle Vernon died of a heart attack but Aunt Petunia was happy." Teddy said. While everyone was digesting that Moony continued reading.

**Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming.**

**"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels…" **

"Of course you have." Remus muttered.

**"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, who was looking distinctly disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self. **

"Wow, that's hard to do." Sirius said.

**There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before — greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Cris caught a whiff of damp earth and fertilizer mingling with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling. She was about to follow Ron and Hermione inside when Lockhart's hand shot out.**

"Is there any way you can avoid being with him alone?" Sirius asked.

"Sadly no." Cris said.

**"Cris! I've been wanting a word — you don't mind if she's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"**

**Judging by Professor Sprout's scowl, she did mind, but Lockhart said, "That's the ticket," and closed the greenhouse door in her face. **

"Technically Professor Sprout didn't say yes so she shouldn't have had to talk with Lockhart." Lily said.

"I wish I had thought of that." Cris said.

**"Cristal," said Lockhart, his large white teeth gleaming in the sunlight as he shook his head. "Cris, Cris, Cris."**

**Completely nonplussed, Cris said nothing.**

**"When I heard — well, of course, it was all my fault. Could have kicked myself."**

**Cris had no idea what he was talking about. She was about to say so when Lockhart went on, "Don't know when I've been more shocked. Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd done it. Stood out a mile. Cris, Cris, Cris."**

"He really likes saying your name doesn't he?" Padfoot asked.

"Unfortunately," Cris said.

**It was remarkable how he could show every one of those brilliant teeth even when he wasn't talking.**

**"Gave you a taste for publicity, didn't I?" said Lockhart. **

"Did he just say that he was more famous then you?" Remus asked.

"Just what for it." Cris said.

**"Gave you the bug. You got onto the front page of the paper with me and you couldn't wait to do it again."**

"Oh my Merlin, I really hate this guy." Tonks said.

"Just wait for it; you will hate this guy even more." Cris said. This caused even more people to groan.

**"Oh, no, Professor, see —"**

**"Cris, Cris, Cris," said Lockhart, reaching out and grasping her shoulder. "I understand. Natural to want a bit more once you've had that first taste — and I blame myself for giving you that, because it was bound to go to your head — but see here, young lady, you can't start flying cars to try and get yourself noticed. Just calm down, all right? Plenty of time for all that when you're older. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking! 'It's all right for him; he's an internationally famous wizard already!' But when I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now.**

"He just called you a nobody?" Padfoot asked.

"Yeah, he did, funny huh?" Cris asked.

**In fact, I'd say I was even more of a nobody! I mean, a few people have heard of you, **

"A few? Try the whole wizarding community." Draco said.

**haven't they? All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" He glanced at the lightning scar on Cris' forehead. "I know, I know — it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row, as I have — but it's a start, Cris, it's a start."**

"I'm going to kill this guy, or severely maim him, whichever comes first." Sirius said.

"Where is he now?" Robin asked.

"St. Mungo's, you'll learn why he is there at the end of the book." Cris said.

**He gave Cris a hearty wink and strode off. Cris stood stunned for a few seconds, then, remembering she was supposed to be in the greenhouse; she opened the door and slid inside.**

"Now we know why you looked shocked." Neville said with a smile.

**Professor Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench in the center of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of different-colored ear muffs were lying on the bench. When Cris had taken her place between Ron and Hermione, she said, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"**

**To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was first into the air.**

"Did you know the answer, sweetie?" Lily asked. Cris nodded her head and hid her face once again.

"Don't hide." George said.

"Show that pretty face of yours Bambi." Fred said. Cris shook her head stubbornly so Moony continued reading seeing that it would be hopeless to get Cris to stop hiding.

**"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione, sounding as usual as though she had swallowed the textbook. **

"Thanks Cris, I love you too." Hermione said.

"Don't mention it." Cris mumbled.

**"It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."**

**"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"**

"And this one?" McGonagall said. Cris nodded again but still kept her face hidden.

**Hermione's hand narrowly missed Cris' glasses as it shot up again.**

Hermione blushed while everyone chuckled.

**"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said promptly.**

**"Precisely. Take another ten points," said Professor Sprout. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."**

**She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were growing there in rows. Cris looked around the room most people were looking at the plants. Cris could tell, they were confused by what Hermione meant by the "cry" of the Mandrake. Except Neville who seemed to eye the plant warily yet excitedly.**

Neville grinned sheepishly.

**"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," said Professor Sprout.**

**There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. **

"What's wrong with pink?" Tonks and Lily J asked.

"Nothing, I just not a big fan of it. You wouldn't be either, my aunt one time forced me into this horrible pink dress one time." Cris said. Cris shuddered at the memory and Moony continued.

**"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right — earmuffs on."**

**Cris snapped the earmuffs over her ears. They shut out sound completely. Professor Sprout put the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.**

**Cris let out a gasp of surprise that no one could hear.**

**Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs. **

"Ahh, how cute." Luna said.

"Is she always like this?" Robin whispered to Remus said.

"Yes," Remus whispered back.

**Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.**

**"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said calmly as though she'd just done nothing more exciting than water a begonia. **

All the teachers shook their heads fondly.

**"However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.**

**"Four to a tray — there is a large supply of pots here — compost in the sacks over there — and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it's teething."**

**She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder. **

"We should feed it either Crabbe or Goyle when we get back." Ginny said. Draco smiled and laughed at that.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione were joined at their tray by a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy Cris knew by sight but had never spoken to.**

**"Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said brightly, shaking Cris by the hand. "Know who you are, of course, the famous Cris Potter… And you're Hermione Granger — always top in everything" (Hermione beamed as she had her hand shaken too) "— and Ron Weasley. Wasn't that your flying car?" **

"At least he didn't leave anyone out." Mrs. Weasley said stiffly.

**Ron didn't smile. The Howler was obviously still on his mind.**

**"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" said Justin happily as they began filling their plant pots with dragon dung compost. "Awfully brave chap. Have you read his books? I'd have died of fear if I'd been cornered in a telephone booth by a werewolf, **

"So would he," the trio, the twins and the marauders said.

**but he stayed cool and — zap — just fantastic.**

**"My name was down for Eton, you know. I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course, Mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family…"**

"Um if that's all it took then she really needs to meet someone more qualified." Remus said.

"I agree." Sirius said.

**After that they didn't have much chance to talk. Their earmuffs were back on and they needed to concentrate on the Mandrakes. Professor Sprout had made it look extremely easy, but it wasn't. The Mandrakes didn't like coming out of the earth, but didn't seem to want to go back into it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists, and gnashed their teeth; Cris spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot. **

Everyone laughed.

**By the end of the class, Cris, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching, and covered in earth. **

"Which makes you look hot," George whispered in her ear which made her blush a bright red.

"What did you say to her?" James asked seeing his daughter blush.

"Nothing," George and Cris said.

**Everyone traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash and then the Gryffindors hurried off to Transfiguration.**

**Professor McGonagall's classes were always fairly easy work, but, today was going to be especially difficult for most people. Everything Cris had remembered everything she learned last year, but she was going to pretend like it had leaked out of her head during the summer.**

Everyone frowned at that.

"At least tell me that it is all better now." Lily said.

"Yes mum, it has." Cris said.

**She was supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but all she managed to do was give her beetle a lot of exercise as it scuttled over the desktop avoiding her wand. **

"You got it in the end." McGonagall said.

"That's my girl," James said proudly with a big smile.

**Ron was having far worse problems. **

"Oh yeah, your wand is broken." Charlie said.

"You should have written home for another one." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Actually I'm glad he didn't, it comes in handy in the end." Cris said. Everyone was confused besides those who knew.

**He had patched up his wand with some borrowed Spellotape, but it seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed him in thick gray smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. **

"That wand really needs replacing." Sirius said.

"It does," Ron said.

**Unable to see what he was doing, Ron accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a new one. Professor McGonagall wasn't pleased. Cris was relieved to hear the lunch bell. Her brain felt like a wrung sponge. Everyone filed out of the classroom except her and Ron, who was whacking his wand furiously on the desk. **

"That's not going to help bro." Bill said. Ron blushed even brighter while his siblings laughed.

**"Stupid — useless — thing —"**

**"Write home for another one," Cris suggested as the wand let off a volley of bangs like a firecracker.**

"What do you mean that it comes in handy?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"You shall see." Cris said mysteriously.

**"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back," said Ron, stuffing the now hissing wand into his bag.**

**"'It's your own fault your wand got snapped — '"**

**They went down to lunch, where Ron's mood was not improved by Hermione's showing them the handful of perfect coat buttons she had produced in Transfiguration.**

**"What've we got this afternoon?" said Cris, hastily changing the subject.**

"Always the peacemaker, aren't you?" Sirius asked.

"You have no idea." Cris said sighed tiredly.

**"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione at once.**

**"Why," demanded Ron, seizing her schedule, "have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?" **

All the boys plus Lily, Lily J, Cris, Tonks, Ginny and Luna burst out laughing. Hermione blushed bright red. Everyone soon quieted down and Moony began reading again.

**Hermione snatched the schedule back, blushing furiously. **

"So a lot like now." Fred said. Cris glared at him and he shut up.

**They finished lunch and went outside into the overcast courtyard. Hermione sat down on a stone step and buried her nose in Voyages with Vampires again. Cris and Ron stood talking about Quidditch for several minutes before Cris became aware that she was being closely watched. **

Cris groaned again and buried her face.

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

"You'll find out." Cris said.

**Looking up, she saw the very small, mousy-haired boy she'd seen trying on the Sorting Hat last night staring at Cris as though transfixed. He was clutching what looked like an ordinary Muggle camera, and the moment Cris looked at him, he went bright red. **

"Oh Colin." Remus laughed.

"It's not funny; he has pictures of me in nothing but a towel." Cris said.

"How did he get those?" Sirius and James asked.

"That's what I want to know." Cris said glaring at her dorm mates. Neville and Ron blushed and looked away.

"Seamus let him in, Neville and I were down stairs working on homework." Ron said.

"Only because Hermione forced you to." Neville said.

**"All right, Cris? I'm — I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think — would it be all right if — can I have a picture?" he said, raising the camera hopefully. **

"Aw, how cute." Padfoot said.

"Say one more word and I will personally shove my foot up your ass." Cris said. Padfoot swallowed and looked away while James and Moony laughed.

**"A picture?" Cris repeated blankly.**

Everyone was now laughing.

"I hate all of you." Cris mumbled.

"Ah, you don't really mean that do you?" Fred asked.

"Well not my future daughter and maybe not you guys but the rest yes." Cris said.

**"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead" (his eyes raked Cris' hairline) **

Cris nervously flattened the bangs on her forehead to hide the scar.

**"and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll move." **

"Oh so he's a muggleborn as well." Lily said.

**Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you" — he looked imploringly at Cris — "maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"**

"I really wished he hadn't." Cris said.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"You'll see," Cris said glaring at Draco.

**"Signed photos? You're giving out signed photos, Potter?" **

"Did you really have to do that?" Cris asked.

"At the time, yes." Draco said.

**Loud and scathing, Draco Malfoy's voice echoed around the courtyard. He had stopped right behind Colin, flanked, as he always was at Hogwarts, by his large and thuggish cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.**

**"Everyone line up!" Malfoy roared to the crowd. "Cristal Potter's giving out signed photos!" **

"You really had to do that, didn't you?" Remus asked.

"Sorry Cristal," Draco said. Cris blinked at him and smiled.

"It's the end of the world." Ron whispered.

"I know," Ginny said.

**"No, I'm not," said Cris angrily, her fists clenching. "Shut up, Malfoy."**

**"You're just jealous," piped up Colin, whose entire body was about as thick as Crabbe's neck. **

"Was he really that skinny or was his neck that fat?" Padfoot asked.

"Yes," the trio, the twins, Ginny, Neville, Luna and Draco said.

**"Jealous?" said Malfoy, who didn't need to shout anymore: half the courtyard was listening in. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."**

"It's not it's who did the cutting," Cris muttered.

"I was such an idiot." Draco said.

"Yes you were." the kids said.

**Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering stupidly.**

**"Eat slugs, Malfoy," said Ron angrily. Crabbe stopped laughing and started rubbing his knuckles in a menacing way.**

**"Be careful, Weasley," sneered Malfoy. "You don't want to start any trouble or your Mummy'll have to come and take you away from school." He put on a shrill, piercing voice. "'If you put another toe out of line'—" **

"That was really pathetic by the way." Cris said.

"I know, but I had an imagine to keep up although I never want to act like that." Draco said.

"This is just too weird." Cris said.

"I know," Draco said.

**A knot of Slytherin fifth-years nearby laughed loudly at this. **

"It's always the Slytherin's isn't?" Tonks asked.

"It does seem like that sometimes." Sirius said.

**"Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter," smirked Malfoy. "It'd be worth more than his family's whole house —" **

"At the moment it isn't, everyone at the ministry is telling the Prophet that I'm a nutcase and nobody should listen to me." Cris said.

"Aw man, what are they saying?" James asked.

"They don't believe me when I said that Voldemort was back." Cris said nonchalantly.

**Ron whipped out his Spellotaped wand, **

"Don't Ron, that will just cause problems for you not him." Remus said.

**but Hermione shut Voyages with Vampires with a snap and whispered, "Look out!"**

**"What's all this, what's all this?"**

"Let me guess, Lockhart." James said.

"Yeah," the trio said.

**Gilderoy Lockhart was striding toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"**

**Cris started to speak but she was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around her shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Cris!"**

"He thinks you're doing all this?" Remus asked.

"Of course he does." Ginny said.

**Pinned to Lockhart's side and burning with humiliation, Cris saw Malfoy slide smirking back into the crowd. **

**"Come on then, Mr. Creevey," said Lockhart, beaming at Colin. "A double portrait, can't do better than that, and we'll both sign it for you." **

Everyone groaned.

**Lockhart placed his hands on Cris' shoulder. **

**Colin fumbled for his camera. Cris tried to scramble out of the way,**

"Get out of there!" Sirius shouted.

**but Lockhart kept her close to his side. Colin took the picture as the bell rang behind them, signaling the start of afternoon classes.**

**"Off you go, move along there," Lockhart called to the crowd, and he set off back to the castle with Cris, who was wishing she knew a good Vanishing Spell,**

"If only," James said wistfully.

**still clasped to his side.**

**"A word to the wise, Cris," said Lockhart paternally as they entered the building through a side door. "I covered up for you back there with young Creevey — if he was photographing me, too, your schoolmates won't think you're setting yourself up so much…"**

**Deaf to Cris' stammers,**

"Of course he is." Padfoot said.

**Lockhart swept her down a corridor lined with staring students and up a staircase.**

**"Let me just say that handing out signed pictures at this stage of your career isn't sensible — looks a tad bigheaded, Cris, to be frank. There may well come a time when, like me, you'll need to keep a stack handy wherever you go, but" — he gave a little chortle — "I don't think you're quite there yet."**

"At times I am." Cris mumbled.

"We know, we know." Fred said kissing her head.

**They had reached Lockhart's classroom and he let Cris go at last. Cris yanked her robes straight and headed for a seat at the very back of the class, where she busied herself with piling all seven of Lockhart's books in front of her, so that she could avoid looking at the real thing. **

"That's good, I think." James said.

**The rest of the class came clattering in, and Ron and Hermione sat down on either side of Cris.**

**"You could've fried an egg on your face" said Ron still laughing under his breath. **

"You can now," Ron said. Cris gave him a death glare which made him cower behind Hermione.

**"You'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Cris Potter fan club." **

**"Shut up," snapped Cris. The last thing she needed was for Lockhart to hear the phrase "Cristal Potter fan club" **

"That would be very bad." Sirius said.

"Yes it would be." Moony said.

**When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville Longbottom's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.**

**"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award but I don't talk about that. **

"He sure likes to mention that a lot." Padfoot said.

"Yes he does," James said.

**I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"**

**He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly. **

"Most of the girls." Ron muttered.

**"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books — well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about — just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in —" **

All the kids groaned at the mention of the so called quiz.

**When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes — start —now!"**

**Cris looked down at her paper and read:**

**1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?**

"Are you kidding me?" Lily asked.

"No, that was basically the whole test." Cris said.

**2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?**

**3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?**

**On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:**

**54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?**

"Pathetic," Snape murmured.

**Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.**

**"Tut, tut — hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac.**

"What does defense have to do with that?" Tonks asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Mad-Eye said.

**I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully — I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples — though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogdeds Old Firewhisky!" **

**He gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Hermione, on the other hand, was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her name. **

"Of course you passed the test." Remus said with a smirk.

**"… but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions — good girl! In fact" — he flipped her paper over — "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"**

**Hermione raised a trembling hand.**

**"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so — to business —"**

**He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it. **

"Whatever it is, it won't be too bad then." Remus said.

"That's what you think, they weren't bad but he let them out." Neville said.

"What were they?" Sirius asked. The group smiled but didn't answer.

**"Now — be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. **

"Nah, wait a year." Cris said with a smile to Remus who smiled back at her.

**Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm." **

"That doesn't sound reassuring." Lily said.

"Well they were tricky, and annoying." Ron said.

**In spite of herself, Cris leaned around her pile of books for a better look at the cage. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Dean and Seamus had stopped laughing now. Neville was cowering in his front row seat. **

"That was a very smart thing to do Nev." Cris said.

"I had a feeling that it would come in handy." Neville said.

**"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them."**

**As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.**

**"Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies." **

The marauders and Tonks burst out laughing.

"They aren't that dangerous." Sirius managed out.

"That's what you think." Ron and Cris muttered.

**Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.**

**"Yes?" He smiled at Seamus.**

**"Well, they're not — they're not very —dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.**

**"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" **

"That is certainly true." Lily said.

**The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them. **

"They could help us so much for the pranking we do." The twins and the marauders said.

"No!" shouted the teachers.

**"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage.**

"HE LET THEM OUT!?" Lily and Mrs. Weasley shouted.

**It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air. **

"Were you alright?" Lily asked.

"I was fine once I got down." Neville said.

**Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling. **

"I hope you don't fall." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"Come on now — round them up, round them up, they're only pixies," Lockhart shouted.**

**He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" **

Moony stopped and looked up and looked at his friends the kids that were in the room.

"He thought that would actually work?" Moony asked.

"Sadly," Hermione said. This caused them to laugh.

**It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way. **

"You weren't hurt were you?" Lily and Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No, just a little ache but nothing too bad." Neville said.

**The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Cris, Ron, and Hermione, who were almost at the door,**

"Of course, he calls on you three to help out." Remus muttered.

**and said, "Well, I'll ask you three to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him.**

**"Can you believe him?" roared Ron as one of the remaining pixies bit him painfully on the ear. **

"It didn't hurt too badly." Ron said before his mum could ask.

**"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione, immobilizing two pixies at once with a clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into their cage. **

**"Hands on?" said Cris, who was trying to grab a pixie dancing out of reach with its tongue out. Cris thought about doing the same as Hermione, but then she would have to admit to knowing the charm.**

Everyone sighed once again and cursed those damn Dursley's in their minds.

**"Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing —" **

**"Rubbish," said Hermione. "You've read his books — look at all those amazing things he's done —"**

**"He says he's done," Ron muttered. **

The trio looked at each other than chuckled a bit.

"You know we really should listen to you more often." Hermione said.

"Maybe we should just keep a list from now on." Cris said. Hermione looked at her and held up said list and Cris grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well that's the chapter." Moony said. He closed the book and passed it to Padfoot who looked at the book for a moment before opening it to read the next chapter.


	9. Chapter 7: Mudblood and Murmurs

Before Padfoot could start reading there was a bright blue light and out stepped a Sirius look alike. Lily J and Teddy jumped up and went over to hug and greet the new comer.

"Um not to be rude or anything but who are you?" Cris asked.

"You haven't figured it out yet Aunt Cris?" he asked. Cris shook her head and he chuckled a bit.

"I'm Keiran James Black, son of Sirius and Robin." Keiran said.

"You look so much like me." Sirius said. Robin got up and hugged him tight.

"Of course I do, and Scar looks like mum. You know this is weird, mum is pregnant with me and yet here I am." Keiran said. Everyone chuckled and Keiran went and sat next to Sirius so Padfoot started to read.

"**Chapter 7: Mudbloods and Murmurs," **Padfoot read stuttering out the first word.

"What a way to ruin the mood." Keiran said.

"No kidding," Sirius said.

**Cris spent a lot of time over the next few days dodging out of sight whenever she saw Gilderoy Lockhart**

"I would too," Lily J said.

"Anyone would, especially if they had that idiot following them around." Cris said.

**coming down a corridor. Harder to avoid was Colin Creevey, who seemed to have memorized Cris' schedule.**

"Did he really mum?" Lily J asked.

"Yeah, it was really annoying." Cris said.

**Nothing seemed to give Colin a bigger thrill than to say, "All right, Cris?" six or seven times a day and hear, "Hello, Colin," back, however exasperated Cris sounded when she said it. **

Sirius, Ron, Padfoot and Keiran snickered.

"Shut up," Cris hissed at them.

**Hedwig was still angry with Cris about the disastrous car journey**

"Your owl can sure hold a grudge." Tonks whistled.

"That she can." Cris said with a fond smile.

**and Ron's wand was still malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning by shooting out of Ron's hand in Charms and hitting tiny old Professor Flitwick squarely between the eyes, creating a large, throbbing green boil where it had struck. **

Ron, Cris and Neville laughed, that was a funny sight and night after that had happened.

**So with one thing and another, Cris was quite glad to reach the weekend. She, Ron, and Hermione were planning to visit Hagrid on Saturday morning.**

"That would be a nice and relaxing morning." Remus said.

"Only, it wasn't." Cris mumbled.

**Cris, however, was shaken awake several hours earlier than she would have liked by Oliver Wood, **

"Was it 8?" James asked. Cris looked at her dad and shook her head.

**Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.**

**"Whassamatter?" said Cris groggily.**

**"Quidditch practice!" said Wood. "Come on!"**

**Cris squinted at the window. There was a thin mist hanging across the pink-and-gold sky. **

"That's worse than you Prongs!" Padfoot said.

"I never thought that I would live to see the day that someone was worse than James ever was." Moony said with a smile on his face.

"Does he play professionally?" James asked.

"Yeah he plays for Puddlemere United now." Cris said.

"He is captain now and I here that they complain about his training schedule." Keiran said.

"And you and Teddy are super glad that you don't have to play with him." Lily J said.

"You two play professionally?" Sirius asked with a wide smile.

"Well at the moment, Teddy and I got signed onto the same team." Keiran said.

"Well that is lucky." Remus said.

"Who do you play for?" James asked excitedly.

"Later," Teddy and Keiran said together.

"Can you at least tell us which positions you play?" Sirius asked.

"Beater," Keiran said.

"Chaser," Teddy said.

"Awesome," James said with a smile.

**Now that she was awake, she couldn't understand how she could have slept through the racket the birds were making. **

"So you wouldn't have been able to even if you tried." Hermione said with a grin.

"Probably not, and Oliver would probably come back up and drag me down to the field." Cris said.

**"Oliver," Cris croaked. "It's the crack of dawn."**

**"Exactly," said Wood. He was a tall and burly sixth year and, at the moment, his eyes were gleaming with a crazed enthusiasm. **

Those who knew Oliver shook their heads fondly at him.

**"It's part of our new training program. Come on, grab your broom, and let's go," said Wood heartily. "None of the other teams have started training yet; we're going to be first off the mark this year —"**

**Yawning and shivering slightly, Cris climbed out of bed and tried to find her Quidditch robes.**

**"Good girl," said Wood. "Meet you on the field in fifteen minutes."**

**Once he left, Cris started to grumble about how she wished she was in the girl's dorm so that he couldn't have found her. **

"So how did he get Angelina, Katie and Alicia?" Ginny asked.

"He owled them and told the owls not to leave them alone." Cris said.

"Well at least you had a better wakeup call then they did." Lily said.

**When she'd found her scarlet team robes and pulled on her cloak for warmth, Cris scribbled a note to Ron explaining where she'd gone**

"Good thing to, I almost panicked when I didn't see you in bed." Ron muttered.

"Ah, I didn't know you cared that much." Cris said with a smile. Ron grinned back and Padfoot continued.

**and went down the spiral staircase to the common room, her Nimbus Two Thousand on her shoulder. She had just reached the portrait hole when there was a clatter behind her and Colin Creevey **

"He is a stalker." James whistled.

"An annoying one at that." Lily added.

"No kidding," Cris muttered.

**came dashing down the spiral staircase, his camera swinging madly around his neck and something clutched in his hand. **

Cris remembered the photo and groaned.

**"I heard someone saying your name on the stairs, Cris! Look what I've got here! I've had it developed; I wanted to show you —"**

**Cris looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under her nose.**

**A moving, black-and-white Lockhart was tugging hard on an arm Cris recognized as her own. She was pleased to see that her photographic self was putting up a good fight and refusing to be dragged into view. **

"Go photo Cris!" shouted the marauders. Cris, Keiran, Teddy, Lily J, the twins, Ron, Hermione and Ginny laughed at their antics.

**As Cris watched, Lockhart gave up and slumped, panting, against the white edge of the picture.**

"Now that's just sad, a 31 year old guy can't pull a twelve year old girl." Remus said.

"He was 31 at the time?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, he's in the year below us." Moony said.

**"Will you sign it?" said Colin eagerly.**

**"No," said Cris flatly,**

"Ah why not?" Fred asked.

"I was in a hurry." Cris said with a shrug.

"Well, now he's going to follow you." James said.

"Yeah, he is, and it's annoying." Cris said.

**glancing around to check that the room was really deserted. "Sorry, Colin, I'm in a hurry — Quidditch practice —"**

**She climbed through the portrait hole.**

**"Oh, wow! Wait for me! I've never watched a Quidditch game before!"**

**Colin scrambled through the hole after her. **

"And now, he's going to follow you anyway." Moony said.

**"It'll be really boring,"**

James gasped and glared at his daughter.

"Cristal Rose Potter, don't you dare say anything like that ever again." James said.

"Sorry dad, I was only saying that to get him off of my back." Cris said.

"I can understand that." Lily said.

**Cris said quickly, but Colin ignored her, his face shining with excitement.**

**"You were the youngest House player in a hundred years, weren't you, Cris? Weren't you?" said Colin, trotting alongside her. "You must be brilliant. I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is?"**

**Cris didn't know how to get rid of him. It was like having an extremely talkative shadow.**

Keiran and Sirius chuckled and then they smiled at each other.

**"I don't really understand Quidditch," said Colin breathlessly. "Is it true there are four balls? And two of them fly around trying to knock people off their brooms?"**

**"Yes," said Cris heavily, resigned to explaining the complicated rules of Quidditch. "They're called Bludgers. There are two Beaters on each team who carry clubs to beat the Bludgers away from their side. Fred and George Weasley are the Gryffindor Beaters." **

The twins, Keiran and both Sirius' bowed as they were beaters as well. Everyone chuckled and Padfoot continued reading.

**"And what are the other balls for?" Colin asked, tripping down a couple of steps because he was gazing open-mouthed at Cris.**

**"Well, the Quaffle — that's the biggish red one — is the one that scores goals. Three Chasers on each team throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through the goal posts at the end of the pitch — they're three long poles with hoops on the end."**

**"And the fourth ball —"**

**"— is the Golden Snitch," said Cris, "and it's very small, very fast, and difficult to catch. But that's what the Seeker's got to do, because a game of Quidditch doesn't end until the Snitch has been caught. And whichever team's Seeker gets the Snitch earns their team an extra hundred and fifty points."**

**"And you're the Gryffindor Seeker, aren't you?" said Colin in awe.**

"Wow, he is a fan." Sirius said.

"You have no idea." Cris said.

**"Yes," said Cris as they left the castle and started across the dew-drenched grass. "And there's the Keeper, too. He guards the goal posts. That's it, really."**

**But Colin didn't stop questioning Cris all the way down the sloping lawns to the Quidditch field, and Cris only shook him off when she reached the changing rooms; Colin called after her in a piping voice, "I'll go and get a good seat, Cris!" and hurried off to the stands. **

"The stadium is probably empty, so it is pick and choose." James said.

"It was empty, only Ron, Hermione and Colin were there." Fred said.

**The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the changing room. Wood was the only person who looked truly awake. **

"Of course he was," Moony said.

**Fred and George Weasley were sitting, puffy-eyed and tousle haired, **

"Have I ever told you that you two looked extremely cute then." Cris said with a grin. The twins blushed brightly which caused everyone to laugh and Lily J and Teddy to pretend to gag. However no one but Sirius saw the look between the two. Sirius guessed that they were more than just god-brother and sister.

**next to fourth year Alicia Spinnet, who seemed to be nodding off against the wall behind her. Her fellow Chasers, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, were yawning side by side opposite them.**

**"There you are, Cris, what kept you?" said Wood briskly.**

"A stalker," Lily said.

**"Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference…"**

**Wood was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch field, on which were drawn many lines, arrows, and crosses in different colored inks.**

"I think James and Oliver should meet and compare notes." Sirius said.

"That would be an interesting conversation that's for sure." Remus said.

**He took out his wand, tapped the board, and the arrows began to wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars. As Wood launched into a speech about his new tactics, Fred's head drooped right onto Alicia Spinnet's shoulder and he began to snore. **

The Weasley's chuckled at that.

"Both of them snore like the thunder, how do you deal with them in the future?" Ron asked.

"Mum puts a silencing charm on them; otherwise she doesn't get much sleep. She doesn't get much now anyway now that the baby is kicking." Lily J said. Cris smiled, she wanted a big family and she does get one in the future.

**The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain, but there was another board under that, and a third under that one. Cris sank into a stupor as Wood droned on and on.**

**"So," said Wood, at long last, jerking Cris from a wistful fantasy about what she could be eating for breakfast at this very moment up at the castle. **

"You've been hanging out with Ron too much." Remus said.

"No I just think it's the Weasley boys." Hermione said. The red-headed boys huffed and crossed their arms over their chests as the rest of the room laughed.

**"Is that clear? Any questions?"**

**"I've got a question, Oliver," said George, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?" **

Everyone chuckled.

**Wood wasn't pleased.**

**"Now, listen here, you lot," he said, glowering at them all. "We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately — owing to circumstances beyond our control —"**

**Cris shifted guiltily in her seat. She had been unconscious in the hospital wing for the final match of the previous year,**

"That isn't your fault Cris," James said.

"It might as well have been." Cris said.

"Enough with that, that wasn't your fault it was Voldemort's." Remus said. Cris shook her head and Padfoot continued reading.

**meaning that Gryffindor had been a player short and had suffered their worst defeat in three hundred years. **

"That doesn't mean that it was your fault." Sirius said.

"I know," Cris said.

**Wood took a moment to regain control of himself. Their last defeat was clearly still torturing him. **

Everyone shook their heads fondly.

**"So this year, we train harder than ever before… Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" Wood shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading the way out of the locker rooms. Stiff-legged and still yawning, his team followed.**

**They had been in the locker room so long that the sun was up completely now, although remnants of mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As Cris walked onto the field, she saw Ron and Hermione sitting in the stands.**

**"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously. **

"It's Oliver; do you really think we were even close to being done?" George asked.

Ron blushed and Padfoot continued.

**"Haven't even started," said Cris, looking jealously at the toast and marmalade Ron and Hermione had brought out of the Great Hall.**

"Sorry, if we had known we would have brought you some." Hermione said.

"It's alright; I didn't think to put that into the note." Cris said.

**"Wood's been teaching us new moves."**

**She mounted her broomstick and kicked at the ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air whipped her face, waking her far more effectively than Wood's long talk. It felt wonderful to be back on the Quidditch field. She soared right around the stadium at full speed, racing Fred and George.**

"And she won," the twins said.

"But of course, she was born in the air, well not literally. Potter's have always been excellent fliers." Sirius said.

"That explains it." Fred murmured to his twin. George nodded and they both kissed Cris' head.

**"What's that funny clicking noise?" called Fred as they hurtled around the corner.**

**Cris looked into the stands. Colin was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.**

**"Look this way, Cris! This way!" he cried shrilly.**

**"Who's that?" said Fred.**

**"No idea," Cris lied, putting on a spurt of speed that took her as far away as possible from Colin.**

Sirius snorted but Cris glared at her godfather.

"She really does look like Lily when she does that." Sirius murmured to Robin and Remus, the both of them nodding.

**"What's going on?" said Wood, frowning, as he skimmed through the air toward them. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."**

**"He's in Gryffindor," said Cris quickly.**

"Yet you still defend him." James said shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"What, I wasn't about to let Oliver go all crazy on him." Cris said.

**"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," said George.**

**"What makes you say that?" said Wood testily **

**"Because they're here in person," said George, pointing.**

"This isn't going to be good." James said.

"It's the Slytherin's, it's never good." Padfoot said. Draco and Snape looked at Padfoot but didn't say anything else.

**Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands.**

**"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!"**

**Wood shot toward the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. Cris, Fred, and George followed.**

**"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin Captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"**

**Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. **

"Oliver isn't that tall," Fred pointed out.

"You weren't that tall either come to think of it." George said.

"Keep talking and you won't live to see the next day." Cris said. George shut up and Padfoot kept reading with a smile on his face.

**He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."**

**Angelina, Alicia, and Katie had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team, who stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering to a man. **

"Girls can play just as well as boys can." Ginny sneered at Draco.

"I know that, I've seen Cris play along with the rest of the team." Draco said.

"Good, have there been any girls on the Slytherin team yet?" James asked.

"Prongs, there have been, they just don't let them on in this time period." Moony said.

"That's just stupid of them." James muttered.

**"But I booked the field!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"**

**"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. **

"I didn't sign that," Snape said. Draco looked sheepish and the potion's master turned his stare on him.

"You forged my signature?" Snape asked quietly. "We will be talking about this some other time." Snape sneered at the blonde with distress.

**'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker'."**

**"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"**

**And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face. It was Draco Malfoy. **

"How did you get onto the team?" James asked.

"You'll see dad, you'll see." Cris said.

"I take it wasn't a try out then." James said.

**"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike. **

"I've taught you boys well." Mr. Weasley said with a smile.

**"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. **

"You bribed them, didn't you?" Padfoot asked. Draco didn't answer but just stared at the floor.

**"Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team." **

"Yep, let me guess, the newest model of brooms." James said with a distasteful look.

**All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun.**

**"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps" — he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives —" sweeps the board with them."**

"At least they have talent." Ginny growled.

**None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly his cold eyes were reduced to slits.**

**"Oh, look," said Flint. "A field invasion."**

**Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going on.**

**"What's happening?" Ron asked Cris. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?"**

**He was looking at Malfoy, taking in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.**

**"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," said Malfoy, smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."**

**Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him.**

"Now, now Ron, you've ridden on much better than that." Cris said.

"I know, your broom is so much better than those Nimbus 2001's" Ron said.

**"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." **

"It's not the broom that makes the player it's the talent they have." Robin and Keiran said. Everyone looked shocked and Sirius was looking at his son.

"What, got to have something in common with my mum besides my eyes." Keiran said.

"That's true," Cris said with a smile.

**The Slytherin team howled with laughter.**

**"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent."**

"Go Hermione!" cheered most of the room.

**The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered.**

**"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," **

Padfoot spoke the last word quietly.

"You didn't," the past and present marauders said.

"And you two had no idea what it means do you?" Lily asked.

"Not at the time, but we do now." Hermione said.

**he spat.**

**Cris knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, **

"You are really good friends." Lily said.

"I did that, and I will always do that whenever someone ever says that word." James said. Lily smiled and kissed James' cheek.

**Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face. **

"Don't you're wand is busted." Remus said. Mrs. Weasley looked worriedly at her son while Padfoot continued reading.

**A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass.**

**"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.**

**Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap. **

Everyone chuckled and at the same time looked disgusted.

**The Slytherin team were paralyzed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging onto his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. **

"Wow, you were such a git," Sirius said.

"I know, and I totally feel bad about it." Draco said.

**The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch him.**

**"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Cris to Hermione, who nodded bravely, and the pair of them pulled Ron up by the arms. **

"And why didn't you're brothers help?" Mrs. Weasley asked glaring at the twins.

"We were trying to get at Malfoy." Fred said.

**"What happened, Cris? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front.**

**"Oooh," said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. "Can you hold him still, Cris?"**

**"Get out of the way, Colin!" said Cris angrily. She and Hermione supported Ron out of the stadium and across the grounds toward the edge of the forest.**

**"Nearly there, Ron," said Hermione as the gamekeeper's cabin came into view. "You'll be all right in a minute — almost there —"**

**They were within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest mauve today, came striding out.**

"What the hell is he doing there?" Sirius asked.

"Whatever it is, it's not good." Remus and Robin said.

**"Quick, behind here," Cris hissed, dragging Ron behind a nearby bush. Hermione followed, somewhat reluctantly. **

"Thank god for that," Ron said.

"Can you imagine if he tried to fix it himself?" Hermione asked.

"If it's anything like his healing abilities then you would be stuck in the hospital wing longer than I was." Cris said. Ron paled and motioned for Padfoot to continue.

**"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one — I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!" And he strode away toward the castle.**

**Cris waited until Lockhart was out of sight, then pulled Ron out of the bush and up to Hagrid's front door. They knocked urgently.**

**Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.**

Everyone who hung out with Hagrid smiled.

**"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me — come in, come in — thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again —"**

**Cris and Hermione supported Ron over the threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily in the other. Hagrid didn't seem perturbed by Ron's slug problem, which Cris hastily explained as she lowered Ron into a chair.**

**"This calls fer special equipment," plunking a large copper basin in front of him. "Better out than in," he said cheerfully, "Get 'em all up, Ron." **

"I guess that works too." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione anxiously, watching Ron bend over the basin. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand —"**

**Hagrid was bustling around making them tea. His boarhound, Fang, was slobbering over Cris.**

"He loves you." Ron said.

"What can I say; I'm more of a dog person." Cris said with a smile to Sirius who chuckled back at her.

**"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Cris asked, scratching Fang's ears.**

**"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle." **

"That would be a sight to see." Sirius said with a chuckle.

**It was most unlike Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts' teacher, and Cris looked at him in surprise. Hermione, however, said in a voice somewhat higher than usual, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job —" **

"More like the only man for the job." Remus said.

**"He was the on'y man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle fudge, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. "An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"**

**"Malfoy called Hermione something — it must've been really bad, because everyone went wild." **

"You should have grown up knowing it, and knowing that you should never use it." James said sadly.

"It'll be okay, I gone this far being somewhat incompetent." Cris said.

"But you're not incompetent for long," Ron pointed out.

"Do you even know what it means?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Cris told me." Ron said. Cris smiled at Ron who smiled back.

**"It was bad," said Ron hoarsely, emerging over the tabletop looking pale and sweaty. "Malfoy called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid —"**

**Ron dived out of sight again as a fresh wave of slugs made their appearance. Hagrid looked outraged.**

"As he should," Sirius said.

"That really clued us in on how bad it was." Hermione said.

**"He didn'!" he growled at Hermione.**

**"He did," she said. "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course —"**

**"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," gasped Ron, coming back up. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born — you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards — like Malfoy's family — who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood." He gave a small burp, and a single slug fell into his outstretched hand. He threw it into the basin and continued, "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all.**

"It shouldn't anyway," Sirius sneered. Lily and Hermione smiled.

**Look at Neville Longbottom — he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up." **

"That's true," Neville said.

"So no hard feelings?" Ron asked.

"Nope," Neville said with a smile.

**"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta.**

**"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out." **

"That's true." Padfoot said.

"More people now are half-blood than pure, these days." Bill said.

"To true," Remus said.

**He retched and ducked out of sight again.**

**"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of more slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."**

"True, that would have been bad." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris would have pointed out that trouble didn't come much worse than having slugs pouring out of your mouth, but she couldn't; Hagrid's treacle fudge had cemented her jaws together.**

"You should have known better than to eat anything he gives you." Sirius said.

"I know, but I was just being nice." Cris said.

"That's sweet of you." Lily said.

**"Cris," said Hagrid abruptly as though struck by a sudden thought. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?" **

Everyone burst out laugh; Cris scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We're just teasing you know." Remus said.

"I know, I'm just messing." Cris said.

**Furious, Cris wrenched her teeth apart.**

**"I have not been giving out signed photos," she said hotly. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around —" **

"You know that he was teasing you right?" James asked.

"Not at the time, but now I do." Cris said.

**But then she saw that Hagrid was laughing.**

**"I'm on'y jokin'," he said, patting Cris genially on the back and sending her face first into the table. **

"You weren't hurt would you?" Lily asked.

"No," Cris said with a smile.

**"I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."**

**"Bet he didn't like that," said Cris, sitting up and rubbing her chin.**

**"Don' think he did," said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling. "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" he added as Ron reappeared.**

**"No thanks," said Ron weakly. "Better not risk it." **

"Lucky," Cris and Hermione said. Ron smiled at them and they glared at him making him cower behind his sister.

**"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," said Hagrid as Cris and Hermione finished the last of their tea.**

**In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Cris had ever seen. Each was the size of a large boulder.**

**"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily. "Fer the Halloween feast… should be big enough by then."**

**"What've you been feeding them?" said Cris.**

**Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check that they were alone.**

**"Well, I've bin givin' them — you know — a bit o' help —"**

"Ah, he's using magic again." Sirius chuckled along with everyone else.

**Cris noticed Hagrid's flowery pink umbrella leaning against the back wall of the cabin. Cris had had reason to believe before now that this umbrella was not all it looked; in fact, she had the strong impression that Hagrid's old school wand was concealed inside it. Hagrid wasn't supposed to use magic. He had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Cris had never found out why — any mention of the matter and Hagrid would clear his throat loudly and become mysteriously deaf until the subject was changed. **

"And that won't change." James said. The trio smirked and he noticed.

"You know, don't you?" Padfoot asked.

"It will be revealed in a few chapters." Cris said with a smile.

"But you must not reveal it to Hagrid; he doesn't even know that we know." Hermione said. Everyone nodded and Padfoot continued.

**"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" said Hermione, halfway between disapproval and amusement. "Well, you've done a good job on them."**

**"That's what that your sister and that Creevey kid said," said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. "Met 'um jus' yesterday." Hagrid looked sideways at Cris, his beard twitching. "Said they was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon they especially that Creevey, was hopin' he might run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Cris. "If yeh ask me, he wouldn' say no ter a signed —" **

Cris scowled and while everyone laughed.

**"Oh, shut up," said Cris. Ron snorted with laughter and the ground was sprayed with slugs.**

**"Watch it!" Hagrid roared, pulling Ron away from his precious pumpkins.**

**It was nearly lunchtime and as Cris had only had one bit of treacle fudge since dawn, she was keen to go back to school to eat. **

"Anyone would be." Sirius and Keiran said.

**They said good-bye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccoughing occasionally, bringing up two very small slugs.**

**They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, Potter — Weasley." Professor McGonagall was walking toward them, looking stern. "You will both do your detentions this evening." **

"Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that." The twins said.

"I think we all did." Remus said.

**"What're we doing, Professor?" said Ron, nervously suppressing a burp.**

**"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch," said Professor McGonagall. "And no magic, Weasley — elbow grease." **

"I still think you've got the easy one." Cris said.

"Well, I think you did." Ron said.

"Just wait." Cris said.

**Ron gulped. Argus Filch, the caretaker, was loathed by every student in the school.**

**"And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"Oh n — Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room, too?" said Bella desperately.**

**"Certainly not," said Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrows. "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly.**

"I am so sorry that you have to deal with that creep for a detention." James said.

**Eight o'clock sharp, both of you."**

**Cris and Ron slouched into the Great Hall in states of deepest gloom, Hermione behind them, wearing a well-you-did-break-school-rules sort of expression. Cris didn't enjoy her shepherd's pie as much as she'd thought. Both she and Ron felt they'd got the worse deal. **

"I did," the both of them said.

**"Filch'll have me there all night," said Ron heavily. "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning."**

**"I'd swap anytime," said Cris hollowly. "I've had loads of practice with the Dursley's. Answering Lockhart's fan mail… he'll be a nightmare…"**

**Saturday afternoon seemed to melt away, and in what seemed like no time, it was five minutes to eight, and Cris was dragging her feet along the second-floor corridor to Lockhart's office. She gritted her teeth and knocked. **

"We love you, you know that right." The twins said.

"Yes, yes I do." Cris said.

**The door flew open at once. Lockhart beamed down at her.**

**"Ah, here's the scallywag!" he said.**

"What is she a pirate?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, I would make for one badass pirate." Cris said.

"I can see it know, the great girl-who-lived living one a boat, a wooden peg leg, carrying a sword and a parrot on her shoulder." Hermione said.

"That would be a pretty cool sight." Fred said with a laugh.

**"Come in, Cris, come in —"**

**Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk.**

**"You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Cris, as though this was a huge treat.**

**"This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her — huge fan of mine —" **

"Isn't that the lady he mentioned when we saw him a few days ago?" Ron asked.

"Yes, she is" Hermione said.

**The minutes snailed by. Cris let Lockhart's voice wash over her, occasionally saying, "Mmm" and "Right" and "Yeah." Now and then she caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Cris," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that."**

"What does that even me?" Sirius asked.

"I have absolutely no idea." Remus said.

"Well if you don't know that he probably has no idea." James said.

**The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching her. Cris moved her aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address. It must be nearly time to leave, Cris thought miserably; please let it be nearly time…**

**And then she heard something — something quite apart from the spitting of the dying candles and Lockhart's prattle about his fans. **

"What was it?" everyone asked.

"You'll see." Cris muttered.

**It was a voice, a voice to chill the bone marrow, a voice of breathtaking, ice-cold venom. **

"What?" Padfoot asked.

"Keep reading." Cris said.

**"Come… come to me… Let me rip you.. .Let me tear you.. .Let me kill you…" **

Ginny paled, the first attack, she thought. Ron saw he pale and grabbed her hand in comfort.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sirius asked.

"Something big and very dangerous." Ron said.

"Please tell me you don't go near it then." Lily said.

"Can't say right now." Cris said.

**Cris gave a huge jump and a large lilac blot appeared on Veronica Smethley's street.**

**"What?" she said loudly.**

**"I know!" said Lockhart. "Six solid months at the top of the best-seller list! Broke all records!"**

"I don't think Cris was talking about that." James said.

**"No," said Cris frantically. "That voice!"**

**"Sorry?" said Lockhart, looking puzzled. "What voice?"**

**"That — that voice that said — didn't you hear it?"**

"He didn't hear it?" Moony asked.

"Nope, only I could hear it." Cris said.

**Lockhart was looking at Cris in high astonishment.**

**"What are you talking about, Cris? Perhaps you're getting a little drowsy? Great Scott — look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! I'd never have believed it — the time's flown, hasn't it?" **

"Sometimes yes but not that night." Cris said.

**Cris didn't answer. She was straining her ears to hear the voice again, but there was no sound now except for Lockhart telling her she mustn't expect a treat like this every time she got detention. Feeling dazed, Cris left.**

"Yeah, that wasn't a treat." Keiran said.

"A treat is something you enjoy." Lily J said.

**It was so late that the Gryffindor common room was almost empty. Cris went straight up to the dormitory. Ron wasn't back yet. Cris pulled on her pajamas, got into bed, and waited.**

"You were freaked." Bill said.

"Anybody would be." Lily said.

**Half an hour later, Ron arrived, nursing his right arm and bringing a strong smell of polish into the darkened room.**

**"****My muscles have all seized up," he groaned, sinking on his bed. "Fourteen times he made me buff up that Quidditch cup before he was satisfied. And then I had another slug attack all over a Special Award for Services to the School. Took ages to get the slime off… How was it with Lockhart?"**

**Keeping her voice low so as not to wake Neville, Dean, and Seamus, Cris told Ron exactly what she had heard. **

"I always miss the good stuff." Neville said.

"It wasn't that good." Cris said.

"I know," Neville said with a smile.

**"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it?" said Ron. Cris could see him frowning in the moonlight. "D'you think he was lying? But I don't get it — even someone invisible would've had to open the door."**

**"I know," said Cris, lying back in her four-poster and staring at the canopy above her. "I don't get it either." **

"That's the chapter," Padfoot said closing the book.

"Well that was interesting." James said.

"It certainly was. Come on, one more chapter before bed." Lily said. Padfoot passed the book over to Percy who opened it to the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 8: The Deathday Party

"**Chapter 8: The Deathday Party,"** Percy read.

"You three actually go to one?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Cris." Ron said.

"I was just being polite." Cris said.

"We know, it was just after the party that things got weird." Hermione said.

"No kidding," Ron and Cris said.

"What happened afterward?" James asked. The three looked at him like he was crazy.

"Right, what was I thinking? You won't tell us anything." James said with a sigh.

**October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepperup potion worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterward. Ginny Weasley, who had been looking pale,**

"Why were you pale Gin?" Bill asked. Ginny shook her head and refused to answer.

**was bullied into taking some by Percy. The steam pouring from under her vivid hair gave the impression that her whole head was on fire. **

"Thanks Cris," Ginny said glaring at Cris.

"You're welcome for my imagination." Cris said with a smirk.

**Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid's pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds. Oliver Wood's enthusiasm for regular training sessions, however, was not dampened, which was why Cris was to be found, late one stormy Saturday afternoon a few days before Halloween, returning to Gryffindor Tower, drenched to the skin and splattered with mud.**

"Better not let Filch catch you." Charlie said.

"I know," Cris said not looking at anyone.

"She got caught," Padfoot said.

"You have a lot to learn, young one." James said. Cris rolled her eyes and laughed.

**Even aside from the rain and wind it hadn't been a happy practice session. Fred and George, who had been spying on the Slytherin team, had seen for themselves the speed of those new Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. They reported that the Slytherin team was no more than seven greenish blurs, shooting through the air like missiles. **

"Alright, you're fast, that doesn't mean squat when it comes to talent. And I bet that Cris has beaten you in every single game." James said. Draco blushed at that but didn't say anything else.

"Cris is unbeatable, as long as there aren't any dementors at the game." Fred said, the last part was muttered so low that no one could hear it. James beamed at his daughter for being unbeatable.

**As Cris squelched along the deserted corridor, her ponytail and fringe dripping; she came across somebody who looked just as preoccupied as she was. Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor Tower, was staring morosely out of a window, muttering under his breath, "… don't fulfill their requirements… half an inch, if that…" **

"He's still going on about that?" James asked.

"Apparently, how long has he been trying to get in?" Moony asked.

"He was applying since I went to school." Dumbledore said. Everyone stared at him trying to picture a young Dumbledore, but they couldn't.

**"Hello, Nick," said Cris.**

**"Hello, hello," said Nearly Headless Nick, starting and looking round. He wore a dashing, plumed hat on his long curly hair, and a tunic with a ruff, which concealed the fact that his neck was almost completely severed. He was pale as smoke, and Cris could see right through him to the dark sky and torrential rain outside.**

**"You look troubled, young Potter," said Nick, **

"Your house ghost is friendly, the Bloody Baron isn't, that's not cool. What was he going on about anyway?" Draco asked.

"You'll see in a minute." Bill said with a smirk.

**folding a transparent letter as he spoke and tucking it inside his doublet.**

**"So do you," said Cris.**

**"Ah," Nearly Headless Nick waved an elegant hand, "a matter of no importance… It's not as though I really wanted to join… Thought I'd apply, but apparently I 'don't fulfill requirements' —"**

**In spite of his airy tone, there was a look of great bitterness on his face. **

"And that is what makes him different." Cris said with a smile.

"So true, he wouldn't be Nearly Headless if they did cut it off the rest of the way." Charlie said.

**"But you would think, wouldn't you," he erupted suddenly, pulling the letter back out of his pocket, "that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?"**

**"Oh — yes," said Cris, who was obviously supposed to agree.**

"Yes you are," the Gryffindors, past and present said.

**"I mean, nobody wishes more than I do that it had all been quick and clean, and my head had come off properly, I mean, it would have saved me a great deal of pain and ridicule. However—" Nearly Headless Nick shook his letter open and read furiously:**

**"'We can only accept huntsmen whose heads have parted company with their bodies. You will appreciate that it would be impossible otherwise for members to participate in hunt activities such as Horseback Head-Juggling and Head Polo. It is with the greatest regret, therefore, that I must inform you that you do not fulfill our requirements. With very best wishes, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore.'" **

"Wow, that's insensitive." Tonks said.

**Fuming, Nearly Headless Nick stuffed the letter away.**

**"Half an inch of skin and sinew holding my neck on, Cris! Most people would think that's good and beheaded, but oh, no, it's not enough for Sir Properly Decapitated-Podmore."**

**Nearly Headless Nick took several deep breaths and then said, in a far calmer tone, "So — what's bothering you? Anything I can do?" **

"Not really," muttered Sirius.

**"No," said Cris. "Not unless you know where we can get seven free Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones for our match against Sly—" **

"Why did you stop?" Luna asked.

"Two guys and it isn't Filch." Cris said.

"Ah, the cat." Neville said.

**The rest of Cris' sentence was drowned out by a high-pitched mewling from somewhere near her ankles. She looked down and found herself gazing into a pair of lamp-like yellow eyes. **

"Damn cat," Cris muttered.

**It was Mrs. Norris, the skeletal gray cat who was used by the caretaker, Argus Filch, as a sort of deputy in his endless battle against students. **

Everyone busted out laughing.

"Well that is certainly one way to put it." George said.

"That certainly is." James managed out.

**"You'd better get out of here, Cris," said Nick quickly. "Filch isn't in a good mood — he's got the flu and some third years accidentally plastered frog brains all over the ceiling in dungeon five. He's been cleaning all morning, and if he sees you dripping mud all over the place —" **

"Get out of there." Sirius said.

**"Right," said Cris, backing away from the accusing stare of Mrs. Norris, but not quickly enough. Drawn to the spot by the mysterious power that seemed to connect him with his foul cat, Argus Filch burst suddenly through a tapestry to Cris' right, wheezing and looking wildly about for the rule-breaker. There was a thick tartan scarf bound around his head, and his nose was unusually purple.**

"Ew," everyone grumbled.

**"Filth!" he shouted, his jowls aquiver, his eyes popping alarmingly as he pointed at the muddy puddle that had dripped from Cris' Quidditch robes. "Mess and muck everywhere! I've had enough of it, I tell you! Follow me, Potter!"**

**So Cris waved a gloomy good-bye to Nearly Headless Nick and followed Filch back downstairs, doubling the number of muddy footprints on the floor. Cris had never been inside Filch's office before; it was a place most students avoided. The room was dingy and windowless, lit by a single oil lamp dangling from the low ceiling. A faint smell of fried fish lingered about the place. Wooden filing cabinets stood around the walls; from their labels, Cris could see that they contained details of every pupil Filch had ever punished. Fred and George Weasley had an entire drawer to themselves. **

"So do we!" James and Padfoot said. Lily J, Teddy and Keiran looked around not looking at anyone.

"Do we want to know?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Not really," the three said.

**A highly polished collection of chains and manacles hung on the wall behind Filch's desk. It was common knowledge that he was always begging Dumbledore to let him suspend students by their ankles from the ceiling. **

"And he will never get that." Dumbledore said.

**Filch grabbed a quill from a pot on his desk and began shuffling around looking for parchment.**

**"Dung," he muttered furiously, "great sizzling dragon bogies… frog brains… rat intestines… I've had enough of it… make an example… where's the form… yes…"**

"I highly doubt that she would be made the example." Ginny said.

"Nope," Hermione said.

**He retrieved a large roll of parchment from his desk drawer and stretched it out in front of him, dipping his long black quill into the ink pot.**

**"Name… Cristal Potter. Crime…"**

**"It was only a bit of mud!" said Cris.**

**"It's only a bit of mud to you, girl, but to me it's an extra hour scrubbing!" shouted Filch, a drip shivering unpleasantly at the end of his bulbous nose. **

"Ew," everyone said again.

**"Crime… befouling the castle…**

Everyone snorted, that was nothing, not even a crime.

**suggested sentence…"**

**Dabbing at his streaming nose, Filch squinted unpleasantly at Cris who waited with bated breath for his sentence to fall.**

**But as Filch lowered his quill, there was a great BANG! On the ceiling of the office, which made the oil lamp rattle.**

**"PEEVES!" Filch roared, flinging down his quill in a transport of rage. "I'll have you this time, I'll have you!" **

"What do ya know, you're saved." James said.

**And without a backward glance at Cris, Filch ran flat-footed from the office, Mrs. Norris streaking alongside him.**

**Peeves was the school poltergeist, a grinning, airborne menace who lived to cause havoc and distress. **

"That about sums him up." Padfoot said with a grin.

**Cris didn't much like Peeves,**

"Before any of you say anything, I'm not a prankster; I'm just a trouble maker." Cris said.

"Alright you're forgiven, maybe." Padfoot said.

**but couldn't help feeling grateful for his timing. Hopefully, whatever Peeves had done (and it sounded as though he'd wrecked something very big this time) would distract Filch from Cris.**

**Thinking that she should probably wait for Filch to come back, Cris sank into a moth-eaten chair next to the desk.**

"No, that's your excuse to get out of there!" James yelled.

"I didn't know that at the time." Cris said sheepishly.

**There was only one thing on it apart from his half-completed form: a large, glossy, purple envelope with silver lettering on the front. With a quick glance at the door to check that Filch wasn't on his way back, Cris picked up the envelope and read:**

"Have you ever heard the term: Curiosity killed the cat?" Remus asked.

"But I'm not a cat." Cris said with a smirk.

"That is such a Lily response." Sirius laughed. Everyone in the room were laughing now as well.

**Kwikspell**

**A Correspondence Course in Beginners' Magic.**

**Intrigued, Cris flicked the envelope open and pulled out the sheaf of parchment inside. More curly silver writing on the front page said:**

**Feel out of step in the world of modern magic? Find yourself making excuses not to perform simple spells? Ever been taunted for your woeful wandwork? **

**There is an answer!**

**Kwikspell is an all-new, fail-safe, quick-result, easy-learn course. Hundreds of witches and wizards have benefited from the Kwikspell method!**

**Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes:**

**"I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke! Now, after a Kwikspell course, I am the center of attention at parties and friends beg for the recipe of my Scintillation Solution!"**

**Warlock D. J. Prod of Didsbury says:**

**"My wife used to sneer at my feeble charms, but one month into your fabulous Kwikspell course and I succeeded in turning her into a yak! **

Some of the guys in the room laughed until they were hit by their respectable girls.

**Thank you, Kwikspell!"**

**Fascinated, Cris thumbed through the rest of the envelope's contents. Why on earth did Filch want a Kwikspell course? Did this mean he wasn't a proper wizard? Cris was just reading Lesson One: Holding Your Wand (Some Useful Tips) when shuffling footsteps outside told her Filch was coming back. Stuffing the parchment back into the envelope, Cris threw it back onto the desk just as the door opened.**

**Filch was looking triumphant.**

"I have a feeling that won't last long." Robin said.

"It's Cris, it probably doesn't." Sirius said.

**"That vanishing cabinet was extremely valuable!" he was saying gleefully to Mrs. Norris. "We'll have Peeves out this time, my sweet —"**

**His eyes fell on Cris and then darted to the Kwikspell envelope, which, Cris realized too late, was lying two feet away from where it had started.**

"How do remember this stuff?" Padfoot asked.

"I don't know, I just do." Cris said.

"You would make an excellent Auror." Mad-Eye said.

**Filch's pasty face went brick red. Cris braced herself for a tidal wave of fury. Filch hobbled across to his desk, snatched up the envelope, and threw it into a drawer.**

**"Have you — did you read —?" he sputtered.**

**"No," Cris lied quickly.**

**Filch's knobbly hands were twisting together.**

**"If I thought you'd read my private —not that it's mine — for a friend — be that as it may — however —"**

**Cris was staring at him, alarmed; Filch had never looked madder. His eyes were popping, a tic was going in one of his pouchy cheeks, and the tartan scarf didn't help.**

**"Very well — go — and don't breathe a word — not that — however, if you didn't read — go now, I have to write up Peeves' report — go —" **

"You got out of there without a detention?" Padfoot asked amazed.

"Um, yeah," Cris said unsure of what was going on.

"You are a queen!" he yelled and started bowing in front of Cris.

"Padfoot stop, you're scaring her." Moony said. Padfoot stopped and went back to his seat.

**Amazed at her luck, Cris sped out of the office, up the corridor, and back upstairs. To escape from Filch's office without punishment was probably some kind of school record. **

"Yes, without help it is." Sirius said.

**"Cris! Cris! Did it work?"**

**Nearly Headless Nick came gliding out of a classroom. Behind him, Cris could see the wreckage of a large black-and-gold cabinet that appeared to have been dropped from a great height.**

**"I persuaded Peeves to crash it right over Filch's office," said Nick eagerly. "Thought it might distract him —"**

"Wow, Nick must really like you." Moony said.

"He and I get along okay." Cris said.

**"Was that you?" said Cris gratefully. "Yeah, it worked, I didn't even get detention. Thanks, Nick!"**

**They set off up the corridor together. Nearly Headless Nick, Cris noticed, was still holding Sir Patrick's rejection letter…**

"Ah, so this how you get to the party." Charlie said.

"Yeah," Cris said with a grin.

**"I wish there was something I could do for you about the Headless Hunt," Cris said. Nearly Headless Nick stopped in his tracks and Cris walked right through him.**

**She wished she hadn't; it was like stepping through an icy shower. **

Everyone in the room shivered, they hated that feeling.

**"But there is something you could do for me," said Nick excitedly. "Cris — would I be asking too much — but no, you wouldn't want —"**

**"What is it?" said Cris.**

**"Well, this Halloween will be my five hundredth deathday," said Nearly Headless Nick, drawing himself up and looking dignified.**

**"Oh," said Cris, not sure whether she should look sorry or happy about this. **

"Definitely happy," Remus and Sirius said.

"Do we even want to know?" Lily J asked.

"No," they said again.

**"Right."**

**"I'm holding a party down in one of the roomier dungeons. Friends will be coming from all over the country. It would be such an honour if you would attend. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger would be most welcome, too, of course — but I daresay you'd rather go to the school feast?" He watched Cris on tenterhooks. **

"He really is hoping that you would go." Lily said.

"Yeah, he was." Cris said stifling a yawn.

**"No," said Cris quickly, "I'll come —"**

**"My dear girl! Cris Potter, at my deathday party! And —" he hesitated, looking excited "— do you think you could possibly mention to Sir Patrick how very frightening and impressive you find me?**

**"Of — of course," said Cris.**

**Nearly Headless Nick beamed at her.**

"You really made his day." McGonagall said.

"It wasn't bad," Ron said.

"It was afterward that ruined it." Hermione said.

**"A deathday party?" said Hermione keenly when Cris had changed at last and joined her and Ron in the common room. "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those — it'll be fascinating!"**

**"Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died?" said Ron, who was halfway through his Potions homework and grumpy. "Sounds dead depressing to me…"**

"Nice pun." Sirius said.

"I try," Ron said grinning.

**Rain was still lashing the windows, which were now inky black, but inside all looked bright and cheerful. The firelight glowed over the countless squashy armchairs where people sat reading, talking, doing homework or, in the case of Fred and George Weasley, trying to find out what would happen if you fed a Filibuster firework to a salamander. **

"And why would you do that?" Charlie asked them with a glare.

"Like it said, to see what would happen." George said.

"The salamander was fine, it liked the taste." Fred said with a smile. Charlie shook his head and motioned for Percy to continue reading.

**Fred had "rescued" the brilliant orange, fire-dwelling lizard from a Care of Magical Creatures class and it was now smoldering gently on a table surrounded by a knot of curious people.**

**Cris was at the point of telling Ron and Hermione about Filch and the Kwikspell course when the salamander suddenly whizzed into the air, emitting loud sparks and bangs as it whirled wildly round the room. **

**The sight of Percy bellowing himself hoarse at Fred and George, the spectacular display of tangerine stars showering from the salamander's mouth, and its escape into the fire, with accompanying explosions, drove both Filch and the Kwikspell envelope from Cris' mind.**

"You said it was fine!" Charlie snarled.

"It was," the twins said.

**By the time Halloween arrived, Cris was regretting her rash promise to go to the deathday party. The rest of the school was happily anticipating their Halloween feast; the Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Hagrid's vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in, and there were rumors that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the entertainment. **

"Did you?" Cris asked.

"No my dear, but it would have been amusing." Dumbledore said with a smile.

**"A promise is a promise," Hermione reminded Cris bossily.**

"I didn't sound like that, did I?" Hermione asked.

"Sorry Mia, but you did a little." Cris said apologetically.

**"You said you'd go to the Deathday party."**

**So at seven o'clock, Cris, Ron, and Hermione walked straight past the doorway to the packed Great Hall, which was glittering invitingly with gold plates and candles, and directed their steps instead toward the dungeons.**

**The passageway leading to Nearly Headless Nick's party had been lined with candles, too, though the effect was far from cheerful: These were long, thin, jet-black tapers, all burning bright blue, casting a dim, ghostly light even over their own living faces. The temperature dropped with every step they took.**

"It's all the ghosts." Lily said.

"We know, we just wished that we had brought coats or something with us." Cris said.

**As Cris shivered and drew her robes tightly around her, she heard what sounded like a thousand fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard. **

Some of the group cringed, that sound was truly awful.

**"Is that supposed to be music?" Ron whispered. They turned a corner and saw Nearly Headless Nick standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes.**

**"My dear friends," he said mournfully. "Welcome, welcome… so pleased you could come…"**

**He swept off his plumed hat and bowed them inside.**

**It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles. Their breath rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a freezer. **

"This is really detailed." Ron said.

"Sorry, but I didn't wright this." Cris said.

"It's alright." Ron said.

**"Shall we have a look around?" Cris suggested, wanting to warm up her feet.**

**"Careful not to walk through anyone," said Ron nervously, and they set off around the edge of the dance floor. They passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. **

"Interesting group." Sirius said.

"No kidding," James said.

**Cris wasn't surprised to see that the Bloody Baron, a gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost covered in silver bloodstains, was being given a wide berth by the other ghosts.**

"He can't hurt them any." Padfoot said.

**"Oh, no," said Hermione, stopping abruptly. "Turn back, turn back, I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle —"**

**"Who?" said Ron as they backtracked quickly.**

**"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," said Hermione.**

**"She haunts a toilet?"**

**"Yes. It's been out-of-order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you —"**

**"Look, food!" said Ron.**

"Don't eat it!" warned the marauders, Bill and Charlie.

"Do I want to know?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"He made me." Charlie pointed at Bill. Bill stuck his tongue out at his younger brother.

"Are they still like this in the future?" Cris asked.

"Yes," Keiran, Lily J and Teddy said.

"Their kids aren't any better either." Keiran said.

"Kids!" Bill and Charlie said.

"Yep, Uncle Bill has three kids and Uncle Charlie has four." Lily J said.

"More grandchildren!" Mrs. Weasley called happily.

"How many grandchildren do we have?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Eighteen, Bill's three, Charlie's four, Fred and George's six, Ron's two and Ginny's three." Keiran said.

"We beat you!" called the twins.

"It's not a contest!" Their siblings yelled.

**On the other side of the dungeon was a long table, also covered in black velvet. They approached it eagerly but next moment had stopped in their tracks, horrified. **

**The smell was quite disgusting. Large, rotten fish were laid on handsome silver platters; cakes, burned charcoal-black, were heaped on salvers; there was a great maggoty haggis, a slab of cheese covered in furry green mold and, in pride of place, an enormous gray cake in the shape of a tombstone, with tar-like icing forming the words,**

**SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON**

**DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492**

"How come a lot of good people die on Halloween?" Cris asked.

"I don't know," Sirius said. The twins hugged her close as their prat of a brother continued reading.

**Cris watched, amazed, as a portly ghost approached the table, crouched low, and walked through it, his mouth held wide so that it passed through one of the stinking salmon. **

"Can they taste it if they walk through it?" James asked.

**"Can you taste it if you walk though it?" Cris asked him.**

"Wow, like father like daughter." Padfoot said. James and Cris grinned at each other.

**"Almost," said the ghost sadly, and he drifted away.**

**"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavor," said Hermione knowledgeably, pinching her nose and leaning closer to look at the putrid haggis.**

**"Can we move? I feel sick," said Ron.**

**They had barely turned around, however, when a little man swooped suddenly from under the table and came to a halt in midair before them.**

**"Hello, Peeves," said Cris cautiously.**

**Unlike the ghosts around them, Peeves the Poltergeist was the very reverse of pale and transparent. He was wearing a bright orange party hat, a revolving bow tie, and a broad grin on his wide, wicked face.**

**"Nibbles?" he said sweetly, offering them a bowl of peanuts covered in fungus. **

Everyone pulled a face at that.

**"No thanks," said Hermione.**

**"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle," said Peeves, his eyes dancing. "Rude you was about poor Myrtle." He took a deep breath and bellowed, "OI! MYRTLE!"**

**"Oh, no, Peeves, don't tell her what I said, she'll be really upset," Hermione whispered frantically.**

**"I didn't mean it, I don't mind her — er, hello, Myrtle."**

**The squat ghost of a girl had glided over. She had the glummest face Cris had ever seen, half-hidden behind lank hair and thick, pearly spectacles.**

**"What?" she said sulkily.**

**"How are you, Myrtle?" said Hermione in a falsely bright voice. "It's nice to see you out of the toilet."**

**Myrtle sniffed.**

**"Miss Granger was just talking about you —" said Peeves slyly in Myrtle's ear. "Just saying —"**

**"Just saying — saying — how nice you look tonight," said Hermione, glaring at Peeves.**

**Myrtle eyed Hermione suspiciously.**

"Don't hurt her feelings!" Lily, Lily J, Ginny and Luna said.

**"No — honestly — didn't I just say how nice Myrtle's looking?" said Hermione, nudging Cris and Ron painfully in the ribs.**

**"Oh, yeah —"**

**"She did —"**

**"Don't lie to me," Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her face, while Peeves chuckled happily over her shoulder. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"**

**"You've forgotten pimply," Peeves hissed in her ear.**

**Moaning Myrtle burst into anguished sobs and fled from the dungeon. Peeves shot after her, pelting her with moldy peanuts, yelling, "Pimply! Pimply!" **

"Wow, he is even more insensitive than Ron, and that is saying something." Hermione said. Ron turned red and looked away.

**"Oh, dear," said Hermione sadly.**

**Nearly Headless Nick now drifted toward them through the crowd.**

**"Enjoying yourselves?"**

**"Oh, yes," they lied.**

**"Not a bad turnout," said Nearly Headless Nick proudly. "The Wailing Widow came all the way up from Kent… **

**It's nearly time for my speech; I'd better go and warn the orchestra…"**

**The orchestra, however, stopped playing at that very moment. They, and everyone else in the dungeon, fell silent, looking around in excitement, as a hunting horn sounded.**

**"Oh, here we go," said Nearly Headless Nick bitterly. **

"This isn't going to be good, is it?" Robin asked.

**Through the dungeon wall burst a dozen ghost horses, each ridden by a headless horseman. The assembly clapped wildly; Cris started to clap, too, but stopped quickly at the sight of Nick's face. **

"Good girl," muttered Sirius.

**The horses galloped into the middle of the dance floor and halted, rearing and plunging. At the front of the pack was a large ghost who held his bearded head under his arm, from which position he was blowing the horn. The ghost leapt down, lifted his head high in the air so he could see over the crowd (everyone laughed), and strode over to Nearly Headless Nick, squashing his head back onto his neck. **

"Poor Nick," Lily said.

**"Nick!" he roared. "How are you? Head still hanging in there?"**

**He gave a hearty guffaw and clapped Nearly Headless Nick on the shoulder.**

**"Welcome, Patrick," said Nick stiffly.**

**"Live 'uns!" said Sir Patrick, spotting Cris, Ron, and Hermione and giving a huge, fake jump of astonishment, so that his head fell off again (the crowd howled with laughter).**

"It wasn't that funny." Hermione said.

**"Very amusing," said Nearly Headless Nick darkly.**

**"Don't mind Nick!" shouted Sir Patrick's head from the floor. "Still upset we won't let him join the Hunt! But I mean to say — look at the fellow —"**

**"I think," said Cris hurriedly, at a meaningful look from Nick, "Nick's very — frightening and — er —" **

"Very convincing Cris." Sirius said.

"Hey I tried." Cris said crossing her arms over her chest.

**"Ha!" yelled Sir Patrick's head.**

**"Bet he asked you to say that!"**

**"If I could have everyone's attention, it's time for my speech!" said Nearly Headless Nick loudly, striding toward the podium and climbing into an icy blue spotlight.**

**"My late lamented lords, ladies, and gentlemen; it is my great sorrow…"**

**But nobody heard much more. Sir Patrick and the rest of the Headless Hunt had just started a game of Head Hockey and the crowd were turning to watch.**

"Well that's rude," Lily J said.

**Nearly Headless Nick tried vainly to recapture his audience, but gave up as Sir Patrick's head went sailing past him to loud cheers.**

**Cris was very cold by now, not to mention hungry. **

Cris smiled sheepishly while everyone laughed.

**"I can't stand much more of this," Ron muttered, his teeth chattering, as the orchestra ground back into action and the ghosts swept back onto the dance floor.**

**"Let's go," Cris agreed.**

**They backed toward the door, nodding and beaming at anyone who looked at them, and a minute later were hurrying back up the passageway full of black candles.**

**"Pudding might not be finished yet," said Ron hopefully, leading the way toward the steps to the entrance hall. **

"I wish we got the chance to eat." Ron mumbled.

"Do I want to know what happened?" James asked.

"Not really, but you'll find out anyway." Cris said.

**And then Cris heard it.**

**"… rip… tear… kill…"**

**It was the same voice, the same cold, murderous voice she had heard in Lockhart's office.**

**She stumbled to a halt, clutching at the stone wall, listening with all her might, looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway.**

**"Cris, what're you —?"**

**"It's that voice again — shut up a minute —"**

**"… soo hungry… for so long…"**

**"Listen!" said Cris urgently, and Ron and Hermione froze, watching her.**

**"… kill… time to kill…" **

"This doesn't sound good at all." James said.

"Whatever it is stay away from it you three." Remus said.

**The voice was growing fainter. Cris was sure it was moving away — moving upward. A mixture of fear and excitement gripped her**

"Of course you did," Lily said.

"My bad, sorry." Cris said.

**as she stared at the dark ceiling; how could it be moving upward? Was it a phantom, to whom stone ceilings didn't matter?**

**"This way," she shouted, and she began to run, up the stairs, into the entrance hall. It was no good hoping to hear anything here, the babble of talk from the Halloween feast was echoing out of the Great Hall. Cris sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, Ron and Hermione clattering behind her.**

**"Cris, what're we —"**

**"SHH!"**

**Cris strained her ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, she heard the voice: "… I smell blood… I SMELL BLOOD!" **

"That was really creepy, you know that right?" Ron asked.

"Sorry, this whole year was full of creepy things." Cris said.

**Her stomach lurched —**

**"It's going to kill someone!" she shouted, and ignoring Ron's and Hermione's bewildered faces, she ran up the next flight of steps three at a time, trying to listen over her own pounding footsteps — Cris hurtled around the whole of the second floor, Ron and Hermione panting behind her, not stopping until they turned a corner into the last, deserted passage.**

**"Cris, what was that all about?" said Ron, wiping sweat off his face. "I couldn't hear anything…"**

**But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.**

**"Look!"**

**Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.**

**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.**

**ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE**

"It really is real." James said.

"Sadly," the trio and Ginny said.

**"What's that thing — hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice.**

**As they edged nearer, Cris nearly slipped —**

"Why?" Padfoot asked.

"If you'll be quiet you'll know." Percy snapped.

**there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron and Hermione grabbed her, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash. **

"Wow, what was it that frightened you?" Sirius asked. At the glare he received he shut up and let Percy continue to read.

**Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.**

**For a few seconds, they didn't move. Then Ron said, "Let's get out of here."**

**"Shouldn't we try and help —" Cris began awkwardly.**

"For once listen to Ron." James said.

"We should have." Hermione said.

**"Trust me," said Ron. "We don't want to be found here."**

**But it was too late. A rumble, as though of distant thunder, told them that the feast had just ended. From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; next moment, students were crashing into the passage from both ends.**

**The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Cris, Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the grisly sight.**

**Then someone shouted through the quiet.**

**"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"**

**It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat. **

"Well, that's the end of the chapter." Percy said.

"I can't believe it's actually real." James said shaking his head.

"I say this is a good place to stop for the night, we will pick up the next chapter in the morning." Dumbledore said.

Everyone got up and went off into separate rooms.

**Author's Note:**

**Should I put in a little scene between Cris and the twins?**

**Yes**

**No**


	11. Break2

Cris lay awake listening to the deep breathing of the girls around her. She slowly got out of bed and silently walked out of the room. She saw the room she created with her boys. She walked in to see Fred and George already there looking sexy as hell.

"Hey beautiful," Fred said.

"Get over here already," George said. Cris smiled and jumped on the bed in the middle of the two guys.

"So what's the plan?" Cris asked seductively.

"I don't know, I think we were planning on doing this." George said. George leaned in and captured Cris' lips in a deep passionate kissed as Fred was kissing her neck while his hand was groping her ass.

George's hand moved down to the hem of her shirt and both he and his twin removed the shirt and Cris turned so now she was kissing Fred and George was kissing her neck and down her back.

Cris removed Fred's shirt and George removed his own shirt. George then to fondle Cris' breast from behind as Fred started to kiss his way down from her mouth.

***Lemon, You have been warned! ;) ***

George's hands went down and started to pull down her pants as Cris went to pull down Fred's. Cris turned and then started to pull George's pants as well with a smirk on her face.

"Not to break the mood or anything but do you know any contraception spells?" Fred whispered into Cris' ear.

"Of course, and I grabbed my wand before I came in here." Cris said. She reached for her wand and did a spell on the three of them.

Cris then straddled George and she could feel the heat of his erection on her thigh as she began kissing him again. Fred then started kissing her back again. Cris left George's mouth and started down his body stopping here and there to lick and stuck his nipples, his naval and then licked her way up his shaft to the head. George gasped and his smile grew wider as he stared into her emerald green eyes.

Cris then started to lick and suck the head causing George to buck into her mouth causing her to gag a little but she still sucked at it. When George was nearing the edge Cris stopped causing George to whine in protest.

"Not now love, I promise we will have more fun later but now it's Mischief's turn." Cris said. Fred looked up from kissing her back and grinned at those lust filled emerald eyes.

Cris pushed him so now Fred was lying next to George. She straddled him and began to do the same to him as she did to George. Soon she stopped at the same point as she did George and looked at the both of them. She winked at George and he got up and got behind her as she straddled Fred once again. Fred held her as George began to prepare her from behind.

The room provided a bottle for George to use. He used it on his fingers as he pushed one into the tight ring of muscles. Cris tensed but relaxed as Fred pulled her in for a kiss to distract her from what George is doing. Soon Cris stiffen yet again when George put in his dick to replace the three fingers that she didn't notice was in there.

Cris gasped but relaxed again as he began to move slowly in and out of her. She looked down into Fred's eyes and nodded. Cris then lowered herself onto Fred's shaft, gasping again as he entered her. George stopped moving to give her time to adjust to the two of them in her.

"Go," moaned Cris.

Fred and George began to move and Cris began to groan into Fred's shoulder. Soon they began to move faster and faster and finally the three of them came. The silent scream filled the room only.

***End Scene, Hope you enjoyed.***

Cris collapsed on top of Fred and George fell to the side of them as the three of them began to breathe heavily to catch their breath.

"That…was….amazing." Cris said through her heavy breathing.

"Yeah, it was. Now I'm exhausted." Fred said.

"Me too," George said.

"Me three. But we can't sleep in here. We will be caught for sure." Cris said.

"Yeah, and I don't really want to get killed by mum or dad," George said.

"Or Sirius and Lupin." Fred said. "What time is it?"

Cris looked and saw a clock appear in the room. "1:25 a.m., we should get dressed and head back to bed, I'm definitely taking a shower in the morning." Cris said.

"We all should, good thing that Sirius and Remus sleep in a separate room," George said.

"Well aren't their younger selves in with you?" Cris asked.

"Shit, they are, okay, George and I will take a shower in here right now so we don't wake him up." Fred said.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you know a werewolf though." Cris laughed. She kissed them both deeply before throwing on her clothes. "Good night," she called.

The twins jumped into the shower that appeared in the room as Cris slipped her wand back with the rest of them as she went back to bed and instantly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

*Hours later*

Cris was soon being shaken awake by Hermione and she opened her eyes.

"Finally, you sleep like the dead. It's time to get up." Hermione said.

"Twenty minutes till breakfast," Lily said.

Cris nodded and sat up and grabbed some clean clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. Soon Cris joined the group in the main room for breakfast with a stifled yawn. After breakfast they all got situated for the rest of the book and Draco picked it up to start the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 9: The Writing on the Wall

"**Chapter 9: The Writing on the Wall," **Draco read.

"I really don't like where this is going." Padfoot said.

"I don't think any of us do." Lily said.

"It was a pretty terrifying time." Fred said.

**"What's going on here? What's going on?"**

**Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.**

**"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked. **

"I don't like Filch any but I do feel sorry for him." Cris said.

"Well yeah, it sucks when anyone loses a pet." Lily J said. She tried to hide the fact that Hedwig died for her mom. Hermione looked a little sheepish remember that time with Lavender and her bunny.

**And his popping eyes fell on Cris.**

"And he blames you doesn't he?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, I'm there for him to blame everything. Like the time I sent you that letter and he thought I was sending an order for dungbombs." Cris said sighing, that wasn't too long ago either.

**"You!" he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll —"**

**"Argus!"**

**Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Cris, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.**

**"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Weasley, Miss Potter, Miss Granger." **

**Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.**

**"My office is nearest, Headmaster — just upstairs — please feel free —" **

"Kiss ass," Sirius muttered.

"No kidding," Robin said.

**"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.**

**The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore;**

"What a little git, I can't believe he is in Ravenclaw." Padfoot said.

"He is?!" the kids asked.

"Yeah, he is. I have no idea how he got in but he did." James said.

"You learn new things every day." Cris chuckled.

**so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.**

**As they entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls; Cris saw several of the Lockhart's in the pictures dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore lay Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her. Cris, Ron, and Hermione exchanged tense looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching.**

**The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. **

"Really Professor?" Sirius asked wide eyed.

"It was one of the ways to make sure that she was actually petrified or not." Dumbledore said gravely.

**Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: It was as though he was trying hard not to smile. **

"And why was that?" McGonagall asked.

"I don't have to explain all my actions to you." Snape sneered.

**And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.**

**"It was definitely a curse that killed her — probably the Transmogrifian Torture — I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter curse that would have saved her…"**

"Shut up!" the adults yelled.

"Why couldn't they do that the first time?" Ron whispered.

"Don't ask me, I can't read their minds." Cris said.

**Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs. Norris, his face in his hands. Much as she detested Filch, Cris couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him, **

"I think we all did," Neville said. Ginny paled even more and Neville came up and sat next to her. Neville wrapped his arms around her as she started to shake.

"Are you okay to continue on Gin?" Cris asked. Ginny nodded her head and took a deep breath.

"Is she okay?" Robin whispered to her brother.

"She will be, she's strong." Remus told her.

**though not nearly as sorry as she felt for herself. **

"Why?" everyone asked.

"I thought I was going to be expelled." Cris said quietly.

"I wouldn't expel you." Dumbledore said. Cris smiled gratefully at the headmaster before Draco continued reading.

**If Dumbledore believed Filch, she would be expelled for sure. **

**Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but nothing happened. She continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed.**

**"… I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou," said Lockhart, "a series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once…"**

**The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net. **

"Someone shut him up already." Padfoot yelled.

"Sorry, you'll have to wait until the end of the year." Cris said with a smile.

**At last Dumbledore straightened up.**

**"She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.**

**Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the number of murders he had prevented.**

**"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all — all stiff and frozen?"**

**"She has been Petrified," said Dumbledore ("Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart).**

"Sure you did, keep telling yourself that." Bill said.

**"But how, I cannot say…"**

**"Ask her!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Cris.**

**"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "it would take Dark Magic of the most advanced —" **

"Voldemort couldn't even do this in his second year." Dumbledore said.

"I can't picture a young Voldemort." Lily said.

"I can," Cris and Ginny said.

"He was good looking at one time." Cris added.

"Now I really can't picture it." Robin and Tonks said.

**"She did it, she did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what she wrote on the wall! She found — in my office — she knows I'm a — I'm a —" Filch's face worked horribly. "She knows I'm a Squib!" he finished. **

"I thought he meant that he was a squid," Cris muttered. Everyone laughed and Cris blushed.

**"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Cris said loudly, uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at her, including all the Lockhart's on the walls. "And I don't even know what a Squib is."**

**"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "She saw my Kwikspell letter!" **

"And that means she would go after the cat and knows what a squib is as well?" James asked.

"Besides Cris may not like cats but she would never hurt them." Hermione said.

"Thanks Mia." Cris said.

**"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows, and Cris' sense of foreboding increased; she was sure nothing Snape had to say was going to do her any good.**

"He would do that," Fred muttered.

"And he would have a blast at it as well." George said.

**"Potter and her friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," **

"What a minute," Padfoot said.

"Is he defending you?" James asked shocked.

"Wait for it," Cris said.

**he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it.**

"Now that makes sense." Sirius said.

**"But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was she in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't she at the Halloween feast?" **

"They have about a hundred ghosts to vouch for them." James said.

"We get it, Cris didn't do it, can I move on?" Draco asked.

**Cris, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the deathday party. "… there were hundreds of ghosts, they'll tell you we were there —"**

**"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?" **

"Please tell me that it was a good or believable lie." James begged.

"Tell them something that couldn't possibly get you into any trouble." Padfoot said. The trio grinned slightly and Draco continued reading.

**Ron and Hermione looked at Cris.**

**"Because — because —" Cris said, her heart thumping very fast; something told her it would sound very far-fetched if she told them she had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but she could hear, "because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," she said.**

**"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."**

**"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly as his stomach gave a huge rumble.**

"Bad stomach, you'll get them all into trouble." Padfoot yelled at Ron's stomach. Robin looked at her fiancé and grinned.

"Siri, I think you've grown sane over the years." Robin said.

"Prison will do that." Sirius whispered. Robin sighed and gave him and hug and a kiss while Draco continued reading.

**Snape's nasty smile widened. **

"Over sized grease monkey," Padfoot muttered.

"I totally agree," James and Lily said.

**"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful," he said. "It might be a good idea if she were deprived of certain privileges until she is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel she should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until she is ready to be honest." **

"McGonagall to the rescue!" Sirius and Padfoot shouted.

"That wasn't very smart Severus," Remus said shaking his head.

**"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply, "I see no reason to stop the girl playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."**

**Dumbledore was giving Cris a searching look. His twinkling light-blue gaze made Cris feel as though she were being X-rayed.**

"He does do that, doesn't he." James chuckled.

**"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly. **

"Thank you, Professor." Lily said.

**Snape looked furious. **

"Of course he did." Sirius said.

**So did Filch.**

**"My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"**

**"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."**

**"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in.**

"NO!" everyone shouted.

"That'll be disastrous; he's absolutely horrible at potions." Moony said.

**"I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep —" **

"Yeah right, and I'm not a trouble maker." Padfoot said.

**"Excuse me," said Snape icily. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school."**

**There was a very awkward pause.**

**"You may go," Dumbledore said to Cris, Ron, and Hermione.**

**They went, as quickly as they could without actually running. When they were a floor up from Lockhart's office, they turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them. Cris squinted at her friends' darkened faces.**

**"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" **

**"No," said Ron, without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world." **

"Wow, Ron is giving good advice for once," Bill said.

"He can every once in a while." Cris said.

"Thanks Cris," Ron said with a blush apparent on his face.

**Something in Ron's voice made Cris ask, "You do believe me, don't you?"**

**"'Course I do," said Ron quickly. "But — you must admit it's weird…" **

"Oh Red, this is me we are talking about." Cris said.

"I know," Ron said with another blush.

**"I know it's weird," said Cris. "The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber Has Been Opened… What's that supposed to mean?"**

**"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once… might've been Bill…" **

"Good, you've listened." Bill said with a smile.

"We do, every once in a while." Said the younger siblings.

**"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Cris.**

**To her surprise, Ron stifled a snigger. **

"Ron," people yelled around the room. Ron turned red and Draco continued to read with a smile on his face.

**"Well — it's not funny really — but as it's Filch," he said. **

"That still isn't funny," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"It kind of is." Sirius whispered.

**"A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, **

"Good analogy," Dumbledore said.

**but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much." Ron gave a satisfied smile. "He's bitter." **

"He was just happy that he got to inform us on something for a change." Hermione said with a smirk. Ron blushed again as Draco went on.

**A clock chimed somewhere.**

**"Midnight," said Cris. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else." **

Snape scowled and the trio grinned at him.

**For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Cris had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. **

"Did they get it off?" Lily asked.

"Well it's off in the future." Lily J said.

"They were able to get it off at the end of the year." Cris said.

"That's good," James said.

**When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly' and "looking happy." **

"Wow," breathed the marauders.

**Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. **

**According to Ron, she was a great cat lover.**

**"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." Ginny's lip trembled. "Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron assured her. "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking —" Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched.**

Ginny was still pale and Neville was comforting her as he held her. She leaned into his embrace accepting the comfort he was offering.

**The attack had also had an effect on Hermione. It was quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else. Nor could Cris and Ron get much response from her when they asked what she was up to, and not until the following Wednesday did they find out.**

**Cris had been held back in Potions, where Snape had made her stay behind to scrape tubeworms off the desks. **

"Why was that?" James asked.

"It was for some stupid reason," Neville said.

"It always is, I actually like potions but he makes it difficult to enjoy it with him bearing down on us and berating our every move." Cris said.

"You get that from your mother." James said with a smile.

**After a hurried lunch, she went upstairs to meet Ron in the library, and saw Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, coming toward her. Cris had just opened her mouth to say hello when Justin caught sight of her, turned abruptly, and sped off in the opposite direction. **

"What was that about?" Padfoot asked.

"Just people being stupid." Cris said.

"You'll understand later." Hermione said.

**Cris found Ron at the back of the library, measuring his History of Magic homework. Professor Binns had asked for a three foot long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."**

**"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short," said Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which sprang back into a roll. "And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny." **

Hermione blushed and Padfoot and James gaped at her.

"Hey Prongslet, you have your Moony and your Padfoot, all you need is a Wormtail." Padfoot said.

"No we don't." the trio said.

"No they don't." Sirius, Remus and Robin said.

"Why?" James asked.

"You'll understand in the next book." Dumbledore said gravely.

**"Where is she?" asked Cris, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling her own homework.**

**"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing along the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas." **

"Wouldn't surprise me, but that's not what she's doing." Remus said.

"How do you know?" Sirius asked.

"Because I know her." Remus said trying not to reveal anything to the past time travelers.

**Cris told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from her.**

**"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," said Ron, scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great —" **

Everyone snickered while Hermione thought furiously with herself about falling for the trap that was Lockhart.

**Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to them.**

**"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," she said, sitting down next to Cris and Ron. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."**

"I should have made room," Hermione said.

"Or you could have asked for my copy." Cris said.

"You had your copy with you and never said anything!" Hermione shrieked.

"You never asked." Cris said with a shrug of her shoulders.

**"Why do you want it?" said Cris.**

**"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione, "to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."**

**"What's that?" said Cris quickly.**

**"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip.**

"The horror," Fred said.

"Mione doesn't remember something." George said. Cris elbowed them in their stomachs.

"Be nice or we will be using you for target practice." Cris hissed at them. They nodded and shut up right away.

"What did you say to them?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Cris just smiled and motioned for Draco to continue reading.

**"And I can't find the story anywhere else —"**

**"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.**

**"No, I won't," said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten days to finish it —"**

**"I only need another two inches, come on —"**

**The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering. **

"Nothing new there." Cris said.

"You should see them in the future. They fight just as much in the future." Keiran said.

"How on earth did we get together in the first place?" Ron asked.

"That is something that would be revealed later." Teddy said with a smile.

**History of Magic was the dullest subject on their schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and the most exciting thing that ever happened in his classes was his entering the room through the blackboard. Ancient and shrivelled, many people said he hadn't noticed he was dead. He had simply got up to teach one day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff room fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since. **

"Oh, he knows that he is dead." Dumbledore said.

"Alright, just making sure." Cris said with a smile.

**Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again. He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand. **

"What are you doing?" Bill asked. The trio and Neville smiled, that was a very interesting class that day.

"You'll see, let's just say that this class is very informative that day." Neville said. Now everyone was confused.

**Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.**

**"Miss — er —?"**

**"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice. **

"I don't think he will tell you." Moony said.

**Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk. **

Neville blushed slightly but Ginny patted his arm that was around her waist.

**Professor Binns blinked.**

**"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers —"**

**He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again. **

"Persistent aren't you?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, Cris and Mione are probably the most stubborn people we know." Ron and Neville said.

"Hey," Cris and Hermione said. Ron smiled sheepishly and Draco continued.

**"Miss Grant?"**

**"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"**

"Wow, you told him." Padfoot chuckled a bit.

**Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, Cris was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead. **

"Well not many have, I don't think." Lily said.

"I think Vic's done it a few times." Teddy said.

"Who's Vic?" everyone asked.

"Bill's oldest daughter." Keiran said.

"Uncle Bill has two girls and a boy. Victoire is in her last year in Ravenclaw." Lily J said.

"Wow, a Weasley in a house other than Gryffindor?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"She isn't the only one either. Charlie's oldest son is in Ravenclaw and Ron's oldest was just sorted into Ravenclaw." Teddy said.

"Dang, what are their names?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Later, let's continue with the chapter." Keiran said.

**"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale —" **

"Which is true," the trio said.

**But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns' every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Cris could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest. **

"Well that is a first." Padfoot said shocked.

**"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see… the Chamber of Secrets… You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."**

**He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued.**

**"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."**

**Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise. **

Everyone chuckled.

**"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.**

**"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."**

**There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns' classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.**

**"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. **

"And yet it was found by two second year students." McGonagall said. Ron and Cris blushed but didn't look at any one else.

**It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."**

**Hermione's hand was back in the air.**

**"Sir — what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"**

**"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," **

"I really should have gotten it then." Hermione said.

"Hermione, we were young we got all the facts in the end." Cris said. Hermione and Cris smiled at each other.

**said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.**

**The class exchanged nervous looks.**

**"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster." **

"Did anyone ever tell him that it was real?" Cris asked.

"No I don't believe we did." McGonagall said.

"We shall inform him once this is over and we shall see what his reaction is." Dumbledore said.

**"But, sir," said Seamus Finnigan, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"**

**"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing —"**

**"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it —".**

**"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore —" **

"He thinks very highly of you, doesn't he?" Sirius asked.

"And he knows your real name." Fred said.

**"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't —" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.**

**"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"**

**And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.**

"And now for the boring class to continue." George said.

**"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told Cris and Hermione as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home…"**

**Hermione nodded fervently, but Cris didn't say anything. Her stomach had just dropped unpleasantly. **

"Sorry," they said.

"It's alright, you didn't know." Cris said.

"Were you ever going to tell us?" Hermione asked.

"When I was ready." Cris said.

**Cris had never told Ron and Hermione that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered putting her in Slytherin. She could remember, as though it were yesterday, the small voice that had spoken in her ear when she'd placed the hat on her head a year before: You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that… **

"You need to get that out of your head." Sirius said.

"I try but there are times when it pops up." Cris said.

**But Cris, who had already heard of Slytherin House's reputation for turning out Dark wizards, had thought desperately, Not Slytherin! and the hat had said, Oh, well, if you're sure… better be Gryffindor…**

**As they were shunted along in the throng, Colin Creevey went past.**

**"Hiya, Cris!"**

**"Hullo, Colin," said Cris automatically.**

**"Cris — Cris — a boy in my class has been saying you're —" **

"That you're what?" Sirius asked.

"That I'm the heir of Slytherin." Cris said.

"No you're not. Potter's aren't related to Slytherin. We are distantly related to Gryffindor and the Pervelle family." James said.

"Cool," Cris said with a smile.

**But Colin was so small he couldn't fight against the tide of people bearing him toward the Great Hall; they heard him squeak, "See you, Cris!" and he was gone.**

**"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.**

**"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," said Cris, her stomach dropping another inch or so as she suddenly remembered the way Justin Finch-Fletchley had run away from her at lunchtime. **

"He was just being an idiot. Don't worry about, worry about something else." Moony said.

**The crowd thinned and they were able to climb the next staircase without difficulty.**

**"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked Hermione.**

**"I don't know," she said, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be — well — human." **

"I can't cure everything." Dumbledore said.

"And it wasn't human." Ron said.

**As she spoke, they turned a corner and found themselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. They stopped and looked. The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the message "The Chamber of Secrets has been Opened."**

**"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," Ron muttered.**

**They looked at each other. The corridor was deserted.**

**"Can't hurt to have a poke around," said Cris, dropping her bag and getting to her hands and knees so that she could crawl along, searching for clues. **

"Wow, you are too curious for your own good." Robin said with a smile. Cris smiled sheepishly, her hair turning fusia again in embarrassment.

**"Scorch marks!" she said. "Here — and here —"**

**"Come and look at this!" said Hermione. "This is funny…"**

**Cris got up and crossed to the window next to the message on the wall. Hermione was pointing at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small crack. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside. **

"Hermione before you say anything about how we should have known what it was out right, we couldn't have possibly have known what it was." Cris said. Hermione nodded and grinned at her friend.

**"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" said Hermione wonderingly.**

**"No," said Cris, "have you, Ron? Ron?"**

**She looked over her shoulder. Ron was standing well back and seemed to be fighting the impulse to run.**

**"What's up?" said Cris.**

**"I — don't — like — spiders," said Ron tensely. **

"Sorry Ron," the twins said. Ron stiffly nodded and waited for Draco to continue.

**"I never knew that," said Hermione, looking at Ron in surprise. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times…"**

**"I don't mind them dead," said Ron, who was carefully looking anywhere but at the window. "I just don't like the way they move…"**

**Hermione giggled.**

**"It's not funny," said Ron, fiercely. "If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my — my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick… You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and…" **

"I never had a teddy bear though," Cris muttered so quietly that only the twins and Remus could hear her. The three nodded at each other. They were going to get her a teddy bear for Christmas.

**He broke off, shuddering. Hermione was obviously still trying not to laugh. **

Ron mocked glared at Hermione who smiled back at him.

**Feeling they had better get off the subject, Cris said, "Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."**

**"It was about here," said Ron, recovering himself to walk a few paces past Filch's chair and pointing. "Level with this door."**

**He reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly withdrew his hand as though he'd been burned.**

"Why was that?" Sirius asked.

**"What's the matter?" said Cris.**

**"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly. "That's a girls' toilet."**

**"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," said Hermione standing up and coming over. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place."**

**"Besides you went in a girls' toilet last Halloween." Cris said grinning. **

**"That was different," Ron said grinning now too. **

**"Come on, let's have a look." Cris said. **

**And ignoring the large OUT OF ORDER sign, she opened the door.**

**It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Cris had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and one of them was dangling off its hinges.**

**Hermione put her fingers to her lips and set off toward the end stall. When she reached it she said, "Hello, Myrtle, how are you?"**

**Cris and Ron went to look. Moaning Myrtle was floating above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin. **

"You know, now that I know her story, I feel really sorry for her." Cris said.

"Me too." Hermione said.

"What's her story?" everyone asked.

"All in good time." Ron said.

**"This is a girls' bathroom," she said, eyeing Ron suspiciously. "He is not a girl."**

**"No," Hermione agreed. "I just wanted to show him how er — nice it is in here."**

**She waved vaguely at the dirty old mirror and the damp floor. **

"Yeah, real lovely." Bill snorted.

**"Ask her if she saw anything," Cris mouthed at Hermione.**

**"What are you whispering?" said Myrtle, staring at her.**

**"Nothing," said Cris quickly. "We wanted to ask —"**

**"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, in a voice choked with tears. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead —"**

**"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," said Hermione. "Cris only —"**

**"No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!" howled Myrtle. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!" **

"It doesn't take much to set her off, does it?" Padfoot asked.

"Not really." The girls in the room plus Ron said.

**"We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately," said Hermione quickly. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."**

**"Did you see anyone near here that night?" said Cris.**

**"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle dramatically. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm — that I'm —"**

**"Already dead," said Ron helpfully.**

"Wow, you need to learn some tact Ronald." Bill said.

**Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air, turned over, and dived headfirst into the toilet, splashing water all over them and vanishing from sight, although from the direction of her muffled sobs, she had come to rest somewhere in the U-bend.**

**Cris and Ron stood with their mouths open, but Hermione shrugged wearily and said, "Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle… Come on, let's go."**

**Cris had barely closed the door on Myrtle's gurgling sobs when a loud voice made all three of them jump.**

**"RON!" **

"Whose there?" Sirius asked.

**Percy Weasley**

"Ah, the prat, of course." Sirius said.

**had stopped dead at the head of the stairs, prefect badge agleam, an expression of complete shock on his face.**

**"That's a girls' bathroom!" he gasped. "What were you —?"**

**"Just having a look around," Ron shrugged. "Clues, you know —"**

**Percy swelled in a manner that reminded Cris forcefully of Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Get — away — from — there —" Perry said, striding toward them and starting to bustle them along, flapping his arms. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner —" **

"Well don't you just sound convinced that it was them." Remus said.

"Well it was against them for being there the night after." Percy said.

**"Why shouldn't we be here?" said Ron hotly, stopping short and glaring at Percy. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"**

**"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely, "but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled, I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out, you might think of her, all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business —" **

"Of course they are, nothing like this has happened for fifty years." Moony said.

**"You don't care about Ginny," said Ron, whose ears were now reddening. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy —"**

**"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy said tersely, fingering his prefect badge. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to Mum!"**

**And he strode off, the back of his neck as red as Ron's ears.**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione chose seats as far as possible from Percy in the common room that night. Ron was still in a very bad temper and kept blotting his Charms homework. When he reached absently for his wand to remove the smudges, it ignited the parchment. Fuming almost as much as his homework, Ron slammed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 shut. To Cris' surprise, Hermione followed suit. **

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked.

"How do you that I was thinking about something?" Hermione asked.

"You do that when you've just thought of something." Ginny said with a shrug.

**"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though continuing a conversation they had just been having. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"**

**"Let's think," said Ron in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?" **

"At the time, only one person fit that profile." Sirius said.

**She looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, unconvinced.**

**"If you're talking about Malfoy —"**

**"Of course I am!" said Ron. "You heard him — 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!'— come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face **

"No, only one person fits that description and that isn't Draco." Cris said.

"True," Ron said.

**to know it's him —"**

**"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione skeptically.**

**"Look at his family," said Cris, closing her books, too. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."**

"That's true though." Cris said.

"Definitely," everyone murmured.

**"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" said Ron. "Handing it down, father to son…"**

**"Well," said Hermione cautiously, "I suppose it's possible…"**

**"But how do we prove it?" said Cris darkly.**

**"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice still further with a quick glance across the room at Percy. **

"What are you thinking of?" Lily asked.

"I think I know, and it is dangerous." Remus said.

**"Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect —"**

**"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably. **

"If it is what I think it is it will be a month." Snape said.

**"All right," said Hermione coldly. "What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."**

**"But that's impossible," Cris said as Ron laughed.**

**"No, it's not," said Hermione. "All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion." **

"You didn't." Remus said.

"We did," the trio said.

"Well that explains the missing ingredients in that year." Snape muttered.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU THREE DID THAT, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HURT." Mrs. Weasley screeched.

"It's already done." Cris said.

**"What's that?" said Ron and Cris together, Cris faking that she did not know the potion. **

"I really wish you wouldn't do that." Hermione said.

"I'm getting better at it." Cris said.

"I know, but you need to try harder." Remus said.

"I will," Cris said.

**"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago —"**

**"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron. **

The twins and the marauders chuckled while Lily and Mrs. Weasley glared at Ron and Cris.

**"It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into three of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him." **

"You mean to tell me that was you two?" Draco asked his eyes wide. Ron and Cris nodded and Draco continued reading.

**"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said Ron, frowning. "What if we were stuck looking like three of the Slytherins forever?"**

**"It wears off after a while," said Hermione, waving her hand impatiently. "But getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions **

"So it was Snape's fault anyway." Sirius said with a chuckle.

"In a way." Hermione said with a giggle.

**and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library." There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section: You needed a signed note of permission from a teacher. "Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," said Ron, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."**

**"I think," said Hermione, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance…**

**"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick…" **

"Ah, you're going to get Lockhart to sign for it." Padfoot said.

"Yep," the trio said.

"Good, use his incompetency, this should be an eye opener at the end of it all." Moony said.

"Well that's the end of the chapter." Draco said closing the book.

"I believe it's my turn once again." Dumbledore said taking the book from Draco.


	13. Chapter 10: The Rogue Bludger

"**Chapter 10: The Rogue Bludger," **Dumbledore read.

"Why is this called the 'Rogue Bludger'?" James asked.

"You'll see, it wasn't very fun either." Cris said.

"Why is it you don't prank and get into this kind of danger?" Sirius asked.

"It's my luck." Cris said with a shrug.

**Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, **

"How boring," James said.

"Not as boring as this year." Ron said.

"Class that year was entertaining at least." Neville said.

**and sometimes re-enacted some of the more dramatic bits. **

"Can you please come back?" Cris whispered to Remus. Remus chuckled and shook his head.

**He usually picked Cris to help him with these reconstructions; so far, **

"Oh how nice," Robin groaned.

"Yeah, it was a blast," Cris said sarcastically.

**Cris had been forced to play a simple Transylvanian villager whom Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him. **

"You know, I've tried so hard to repress this from my memory." Cris said shaking her head and groaning into her hands.

"It'll be okay." Fred said with a chuckle and rubbing soothing circles onto her back.

**Cris was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, this time acting a werewolf. **

Both Remus' groaned.

"Please tell me you did a good job." Sirius said with a smile.

"I think I did, all the experience I had with werewolves at the time have been in the movies." Cris said.

"Are the movies better than the ones in the seventies?" Lily asked.

"Not really," Hermione and Cris answered.

**If she hadn't had a very good reason for keeping Lockhart in a good mood, she would have refused to do it. **

"Did you somehow remember us?" Remus asked.

"Yeah kind of, especially in third year, I kept getting these weird dreams with you guys in it." Cris said.

"You have a very good memory Cris." Robin said.

"I've been told that." Cris said with a smile.

**"Nice loud howl, Cris — exactly — and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced — like this — slammed him to the floor — thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down — with my other, I put my wand to his throat — I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm - he let out a piteous moan — go on, Cris — higher than that — good **

"You know that sounds really wrong." Ron said. The twins and Cris thought back to last night and the twins were wondering if that was the same moan.

"Get your mind out of the gutter Ron." Cris said. "Mia, can you slap him for me?"

Hermione then slapped Ron upside the head and Draco continued to read.

— **the fur vanished — the fangs shrank — and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective — and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks." **

"That isn't a real spell, I wish it was but it's not." Remus said.

"That would solve a lot of things." Moony said.

**The bell rang and Lockhart got to his feet.**

**"Homework — compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!" **

"So all the girls besides Cris tried then." Sirius said.

"Pretty much." Cris, Ron and Neville said.

**The class began to leave. Cris returned to the back of the room, where Ron and Hermione were waiting.**

**"Ready?" Cris muttered.**

**"Wait till everyone's gone," said Hermione nervously. "All right…"**

**She approached Lockhart's desk, a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, Cris and Ron right behind her. **

"You'll get it, he's an idiot." Remus said.

**"Er — Professor Lockhart?" Hermione stammered. "I wanted to — to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading." She held out the piece of paper, her hand shaking slightly. **

**"But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it — I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow-acting venoms." **

"Ah, that' the way to do it. Sugar him up and get him to sign it." Sirius said.

**"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls!" said Lockhart, taking the note from Hermione and smiling widely at her. "Possibly my very favorite book. You enjoyed it?"**

**"Oh, yes," said Hermione eagerly. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea-strainer-" **

"How on earth did someone actually think he did all this?" Robin asked.

"I have no idea." McGonagall said.

**"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student of the year a little extra help," said Lockhart warmly, and he pulled out an enormous peacock quill. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" he said, misreading the revolted look on Ron's face. **

"Okay, I've seen Ron's disgusted look, how on earth can he misread that?" Keiran asked.

"I don't know." Cris said with a smile.

**"I usually save it for book-signings." **

"Just sign the slip already so they could get out of there." Lily said with a sigh.

**He scrawled an enormous loopy signature on the note and handed it back to Hermione.**

**"****So, Cris," said Lockhart, **

"Leave my daughter alone you arrogant jerk." James sneered.

"I don't think that would happen." Cris said.

"One can hope." James said.

**while Hermione folded the note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag. "Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was a Seeker, too.**

**I was asked to try for the National Squad, **

"And I'm the Minister of Magic. That idiot can't even be stay on a broom." Sirius said.

**but preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. **

"Whatever you say, you Fraud." Bill said.

**Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players…" **

"Crisy could fly circles around you." Lily said.

"Thanks mum," Cris said with a smile.

**Cris made an indistinct noise in her throat and then hurried off after Ron and Hermione. **

"Good idea," Sirius said.

**"I don't believe it," she said as the three of them examined the signature on the note. "He didn't even look at the book we wanted."**

**"That's because he's a brainless git," said Ron. "But who cares, we've got what we needed—"**

**"He is not a brainless git," said Hermione shrilly as they half ran toward the library. **

"He is," Hermione said to her younger self.

"She's come to her senses!" the twins yelled happily.

"Shut it you two." Cris said.

**"Just because he said you were the best student of the year —" **

"I'm not, Cris isn't far behind me." Hermione said.

"Thanks Mia." Cris said with a smile.

**They dropped their voices as they entered the muffled stillness of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an underfed vulture. **

"Tell us how you really feel." Padfoot said.

**"Moste Potente Potions?" she repeated suspiciously, trying to take the note from Hermione; but Hermione wouldn't let go. **

Ron and Cris tried to hide the chuckle with a cough.

**"I was wondering if I could keep it," she said breathlessly.**

"Hey Mione, what would you do if you had kept the signature?" Cris asked.

"I would have burnt it." Hermione said.

"That's my girl." Cris said with a wide smile.

**"Oh, come on," said Ron, wrenching it from her grasp and thrusting it at Madam Pince. "We'll get you another autograph. Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough."**

"That is so true." Remus laughed.

**Madam Pince held the note up to the light, as though determined to detect a forgery, but it passed the test. She stalked away between the lofty shelves and returned several minutes later carrying a large and moldy-looking book. Hermione put it carefully into her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or look too guilty. **

"I remember that day, you three need to work on your guilty faces." Neville said.

"I have, I've been playing poker." Cris said.

"What does poking people have to do with guilty faces?" Fred asked with a confused face. A lot of people around the room were confused as he was.

"It's not poking someone, it's a card game, like exploding snaps. But instead it involves cards with numbers and four different suits. Depending on the game you choose to play there are different rules. The constant in the different games is the betting that takes place. You bet on your hand whether or not it's good or bad, you can fold if it's bad or you can hope for the best by bluffing the group, if you're good enough you can bluff someone into losing a really good hand and you win." Hermione said.

"Sounds like fun." The twins and the marauders said.

"You will not be betting!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's not real money." Cris said.

"But still, I don't want you betting." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's out-of-order bathroom once again. **

"Good place to be, less likely to be caught." Moody said nodding his head.

**Hermione had overridden Ron's objections by pointing out that it was the last place anyone in their right minds would go, so they were guaranteed some privacy. Moaning Myrtle was crying noisily in her stall, but they were ignoring her, and she them. **

"So this is where you three kept disappearing to." Neville said with a smile.

"You noticed?" Cris asked.

"Well yeah, everyone noticed when you three disappeared somewhere." Ginny said.

**Hermione opened Moste Potente Potions carefully, and the three of them bent over the damp-spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects almost too gruesome to think about, and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head. **

A number of people in the group grimaced at the thought.

**"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly as she found the page headed The Polyjuice Potion. It was decorated with drawings of people halfway through transforming into other people. Cris sincerely hoped the artist had imagined the looks of intense pain on their faces. **

"Sadly no," Snape said.

**"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione as they scanned the recipe. **

"Well you are second years and that is a sixth year potion." Moony said.

"And yet Hermione made it perfectly." Cris said with a smile.

"Could you have made it?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, maybe." Cris said.

**"Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass," she murmured, running her finger down the list of ingredients. "Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves… Oooh, look, powdered horn of a bicorn — don't know where we're going to get that — shredded skin of a boomslang — that'll be tricky, too and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into."**

**"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it —" **

"Yuck," Ginny said.

"Thankfully we didn't need toenails, just hairs." Ron said.

**Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard him.**

**"We don't have to worry about that yet, though, because we add those bits last…"**

**Ron turned, speechless, to Cris, who had another worry. **

"Why?" James asked.

"We had to steal most of the ingredients. Wasn't exactly an easy task." Cris said.

"I can understand that." James said.

**"D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione? Shredded skin of a boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if this is a good idea…" **

"No it isn't, but it is doable with the right distractions." James said.

"Stop encouraging her!" screeched Lily.

"Sorry Lily-Flower." James said with a secret wink to Cris who grinned back at her father.

**Hermione shut the book with a snap.**

**"Well, if you two are going to chicken out, fine," she said. There were bright pink patches on her cheeks and her eyes were brighter than usual. "I don't want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in." **

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione?" Fred asked.

"You the one encouraging them to break the rules? Usually it's the other way around." Remus said with a laugh.

"I follow the rules, unless it's about something really bad, or stupid." Hermione said.

"Like now?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

"Exactly," Hermione said with a smile.

**"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron. "All right, we'll do it. But not toenails, okay?"**

**"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Cris as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again. **

"You really are the peacemaker." James said with a smile.

"No kidding, they argue so bad it's a wonder that they are married in the future, unless they are pulling our legs. You aren't are you?" Cris asked.

Keiran pulled out a wallet and dug through the pictures in there. He pulled one out and passed it to Cris. The picture was an older Hermione and Ron; Ron was holding a toddler around 2 or three and Hermione was holding a baby.

"They are adorable." Cris said passing the picture down for her best friends to see.

"That picture was taken shortly after Hugo was born. Rose is 2 in the picture." Keiran said.

"Rose looks just like me." Hermione said.

"She does even more now, and Hugo looks like Uncle Ron only with brown hair." Lily J said. Ron passed the picture down to his parents and his mom was gushing over the picture before passing it back around to Keiran.

**"Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days… I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."**

**"A month?" said Ron. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!" But Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously again, and he added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say." **

"Her glare is just as bad as Cris'." Ron said and cowered under both glares.

**However, while Hermione was checking that the coast was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron muttered to Cris, "It'll be a lot less hassle if you can just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow." **

"I wish I could have done that," Cris muttered.

"Is that what the three of you wanted to do?" Draco asked.

"You gotta admit, you were a really big prat." Ginny said.

"True," Draco muttered.

**Cros woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. She was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Wood would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms gold could buy. She had never wanted to beat Slytherin so badly. **

"Now you can't." Draco said.

"It was your fault anyway." Cris shot back.

"You didn't have to listen to me." Draco said.

"Stop, it takes a lot to anger her and when you do, hide." Remus said.

"You're lucky that you just got a black eye." Sirius said. Draco winced and Dumbledore read on.

**After half an hour of lying there with her insides churning, she got up, dressed, and went down to breakfast early, where she found the rest of the Gryffindor team huddled at the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much.**

"You mean to tell me that the Weasley twins aren't talking?" McGonagall asked.

"We can be quiet when we want to." Fred said.

"Granted it is when we are asleep but we can." George said.

**As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. Ron and Hermione came hurrying over to wish Cris good luck as she entered the locker rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, then sat down to listen to Wood's usual pre-match pep talk. **

"Always welcoming at the beginning of the game." Cris said with an eye roll.

**"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he began. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have; we've been flying in all weathers —"**

**"Too true," muttered George Weasley. "I haven't been properly dry since August" **

The boys plus Cris snorted.

"We've finally corrupted you." Ron exclaimed with a smile.

"Oh no, it wasn't you. It was Siri and Uncle Moony." Cris said.

"Uncle Moony?" Remus asked with wide eyes.

"Of course, you've been like an uncle so hence Uncle Moony." Cris said with a smile.

**"— and we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team."**

**Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Cris.**

**"It'll be down to you, Cris, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, **

"You took that seriously, didn't you?" James asked.

"No, just someone else was trying to do that during the game." Cris said.

**Cris, because we've got to win today, we've got to."**

**"So no pressure, Cris," said Fred, winking at her.**

**As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard, too. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary. **

"Of course, that's part of the tradition." James said.

**"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three… two… one…"**

**With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Cris flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the Snitch.**

**"All right there, Scarhead?" **

"You need better insults." Padfoot said.

"That's just weak." James said.

**yelled Malfoy, shooting underneath him as though to show off the speed of his broom.**

**Cris had no time to reply. At that very moment, a heavy black Bludger came pelting toward her; she avoided it so narrowly that she felt it ruffle her hair as it passed. **

"Close call," James muttered.

**"Close one, Cris!" said George, streaking past her with his club in his hand, ready to knock the Bludger back toward a Slytherin. Cris saw George give the Bludger a powerful whack in the direction of Adrian Pucey, but the Bludger changed direction in midair and shot straight for Cris again.**

"What the hell?" Padfoot asked.

"This isn't good." Moony said.

**Cris dropped quickly to avoid it, and George managed to hit it hard toward Malfoy. Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Cris' head.**

**Cris put on a burst of speed and zoomed toward the other end of the pitch. She could hear the Bludger whistling along behind her. What was going on? Bludgers never concentrated on one player like this; it was their job to try and unseat as many people as possible… **

"True, so what the bloody hell is going on?" Sirius asked.

**Fred Weasley was waiting for the Bludger at the other end. Cris ducked as Fred swung at the Bludger with all his might; the Bludger was knocked off course. **

"Good," the marauders, Lily, Tonks, Kingsley, Bill and Charlie said.

"I wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief yet." Cris said. They groaned and Dumbledore continued reading.

**"Gotcha!" Fred yelled happily, but he was wrong; as though it was magnetically attracted to Cris, the Bludger pelted after her once more and Cris was forced to fly off at full speed.**

**It had started to rain; Cris felt heavy drops fall onto her face, splattering onto her glasses. **

"That's one thing I hate about glasses." Cris said.

"Me too," James said.

**She didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game until she heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero." **

Everyone groaned.

**The Slytherins' superior brooms were clearly doing their jobs, and meanwhile the mad Bludger was doing all it could to knock Cris out of the air. Fred and George were now flying so close to her on either side that Cris could see nothing at all except their flailing arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let alone catch it.**

**"Someone's — tampered — with — this — Bludger —" Fred grunted, swinging his bat with all his might at it as it launched a new attack on Cris. **

"Everything seems to happen to you huh?" Robin asked.

"It certainly seems that way." Cris said.

**"We need time out," said George, trying to signal to Wood and stop the Bludger breaking Cris' nose at the same time. **

"Was that the only injury during this game?" James asked.

"Sadly, no." Cris said.

"What happens?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll see." Cris and the twins said.

**Wood had obviously got the message. Madam Hooch's whistle rang out and Cris, Fred, and George dived for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludger.**

**"What's going on?" said Wood as the Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd jeered. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?" **

"Saving our wonderful seeker." Fred said kissing her head.

"A certain Bludger seemed to be attracted to her for some weird reason." George said.

"You'll find out later." Cris said with a sigh. She knew that they would try and get Dobby for all this later on.

**"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Cris, Oliver," said George angrily. "Someone's fixed it — it won't leave Cris alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."**

**"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then…" said Wood, anxiously. **

"It wasn't the Slytherin's." Cris said.

"So you know who it was?" Sirius asked.

"The same person who stopped my letters, and the barrier from letting us through." Cris said.

"He is really trying to kill you then." Remus said with a frown.

"No, just trying to save me." Cris said.

"How do you know?" Robin asked.

"He told me." Cris said.

**Madam Hooch was walking toward them. Over her shoulder, Cris could see the Slytherin team jeering and pointing in her direction.**

**"Listen," said Cris as she came nearer and nearer, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one." **

"CRISTAL!" Lily and Mrs. Weasley shouted.

"It's in the past; you can't do anything about it now." Cris said.

"Please tell me you stopped her from doing it." Moony begged.

"Sadly, no. She is very persuasive." Fred said with a wink at Cris who blushed. Remus saw the blush and was wondering what that was about. Lily J saw it as well and sent a smile to Teddy who gave her a warm smile back at her.

**"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off."**

**"Oliver, this is insane," said Alicia Spinner angrily. "You can't let Cris deal with that thing on her own. Let's ask for an inquiry…"**

**"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Cris. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver; tell them to leave me alone!" **

"You're insane." Remus said.

"Just like your father." Sirius said.

"Hey!" James shouted as Cris giggled slightly.

**"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell her —" **

"Well I wasn't really suspecting something like this to happen during the game." Cris said.

"None of us did." McGonagall said.

**Madam Hooch had joined them.**

**"Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood.**

**Wood looked at the determined look on Cris' face.**

**"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Cris — leave her alone and let her deal with the Bludger on her own." **

Most of the room groaned and looked anxiously at Dumbledore to continue reading.

**The rain was falling more heavily now. On Madam Hooch's whistle, Cris kicked hard into the air and heard the telltale whoosh of the Bludger behind her. Higher and higher Cris climbed; she looped and swooped, spiraled, zigzagged, and rolled. Slightly dizzy, she nevertheless kept her eyes wide open, rain was speckling her glasses and ran up her nostrils as she hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the Bludger. She could hear laughter from the crowd; she knew she must look very stupid,**

"It wasn't you we were laughing at. Ron, Neville, Ginny and I thought you looked really graceful in the air while trying to avoid that bludger." Hermione said.

"Thanks Mia." Cris smiled.

**but the rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn't change direction as quickly as Cris could; she began a kind of roller-coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood.**

**A whistling in Cris' ear told her the Bludger had just missed her again; she turned right over and sped in the opposite direction.**

**"****Training for the ballet, Potter?" yelled Malfoy**

"Of course, it's supposed to help you fly better; you should give it a go." Cris said with a cheeky smile towards Draco.

"Thanks, I'll give it a try." Draco shot back with the same smile.

**as Cris was forced to do a stupid kind of twirl in midair to dodge the Bludger, and she fled, the Bludger trailing a few feet behind her; and then, glaring back at Malfoy in hatred, she saw it — the Golden Snitch. It was hovering inches above Malfoy's left ear — and Malfoy, busy laughing at Cris, hadn't seen it.**

**For an agonizing moment, Cris hung in midair, not daring to speed toward Malfoy in case he looked up and saw the Snitch.**

**WHAM. **

"You stood still for too long, what was broken?" James asked.

"My arm, at first." Cris said muttering the last part so none of them knew.

**She had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger had hit her at last, smashed into her elbow, and Cris felt her arm break. **

"I've had that happen before." James said wincing at the memory.

"It's not very fun." Teddy said.

**Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in her arm, she slid sideways on her rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, her right arm dangling useless at her side — the Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time zooming at her face — Cris swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged in her numb brain: get to Malfoy. **

"And you're still playing." Lily said shaking her head.

"Well I have to." Cris said.

"You are your father's child that's for sure." Lily said again.

**Through a haze of rain and pain she dived for the shimmering, sneering face below her and saw its eyes widen with fear: Malfoy thought Cris was attacking her. **

"Well she came bolting right at me." Draco said.

"It'll be alright Draco," Luna said.

**"What the —" he gasped, careening out of Cris' way.**

**Cris took her remaining hand off her broom and made a wild snatch; she felt her fingers close on the cold Snitch but was now only gripping the broom with her legs, and there was a yell from the crowd below as she headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to pass out. **

"You know I've realized something." Neville said.

"What is that?" Cris asked.

"There has been at least one game every year that you almost get killed." Neville said.

"You know now that I think about that is true, except this year of course." Cris said.

"True, but still." Neville said.

**With a splattering thud she hit the mud and rolled off her broom. Her arm was hanging at a very strange angle; riddled with pain, she heard, as though from a distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. She focused on the Snitch clutched in her good hand.**

**"Aha," she said vaguely. "We've won."**

**And she fainted. **

"I was fine until Lockhart showed up." Cris said.

"What did he do to you?" James asked.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**She came around, rain falling on her face, still lying on the field, with someone leaning over her. She saw a glitter of teeth. **

"I remember this." Ron said with a grimace.

**"Oh, no, not you," she moaned.**

**"Doesn't know what she's saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them. "Not to worry, Cris. I'm about to fix your arm."**

**"No!" said Cris. "I'll keep it like this, thanks…"**

"Get her to Pomfrey." Robin yelled.

**She tried to sit up, but the pain was terrible. She heard a familiar clicking noise nearby.**

**"I don't want a photo of this, Colin," she said loudly. **

"I shouldn't have yelled at him." Cris said.

"He understood, you were in pain." Ginny said quietly. Cris nodded and Dumbledore continued.

**"Lie back, Cris," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times —" **

"Someone stop him!" Lily screeched.

"We couldn't." Hermione said sadly.

**"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" said Cris through clenched teeth.**

**"She should really, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who couldn't help grinning even though his Seeker was injured. **

"He's an obsessed idiot. You and him would get along really well, Prongs." Moony said as his friend pouted.

**"Great capture, Cris, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say —"**

**Through the thicket of legs around her, Cris spotted Fred and George Weasley, wrestling the rogue Bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific fight. **

"We were covered with bruises afterward." George said.

"I believe it." Padfoot said.

**"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.**

**"No — don't —" said Cris weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Cris' arm.**

**A strange and unpleasant sensation started at Cris' shoulder and spread all the way down to her fingertips. It felt as though her arm was being deflated. She didn't dare look at what was happening. She had shut her eyes, her face turned away from her arm, but her worst fears were realized as the people above her gasped and Colin Creevey began clicking away madly. Her arm didn't hurt anymore — nor did it feel remotely like an arm. **

"What the hell did he do?" Lily, Robin and Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

"He removed the bones." Remus said his teeth clenched.

"I'm going to kill him." James snarled.

**"Ah," said Lockhart. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Cris, just toddle up to the hospital wing — ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, would you escort her? — and Madam Pomfrey will be able to — er — tidy you up a bit." **

"Yeah, tidy me up some. More like re-growing all my bones in my right arm." Cris said with a grimace.

**As Cris got to her feet, she felt strangely lopsided. Taking a deep breath she looked down at her right side. What she saw nearly made her pass out again.**

**Poking out of the end of her robes was what looked like a thick, flesh-colored rubber glove. **

"That would make anyone pass out." Lily J shuddered.

**She tried to move her fingers. Nothing happened.**

**Lockhart hadn't mended Cris' bones. He had removed them.**

"He's getting a piece of my mind when I see him next." Padfoot said.

**Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all pleased.**

**"You should have come straight to me!" she raged**

"I tried, but Lockhart wouldn't let me leave." Cris sighed.

**holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second — but growing them back —"**

**"You will be able to, won't you?" said Cris desperately.**

**"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Cris a pair of pajamas. "You'll have to stay the night…"**

**Ron waited outside the curtain drawn around Cris' bed while Hermione helped her into her pajamas. It took a while to stuff the rubbery, boneless arm into a sleeve. Every silent question of the scars littering Cris' body were not asked but Cris could see the Hermione really wanted to know.**

"I should have, would you have told me?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe, I don't know." Cris mumbled making Hermione sigh.

**"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" Ron called through the curtain as Hermione pulled Cris' limp fingers through the cuff. "If Cris had wanted deboning she would have asked."**

**"Anyone can make a mistake," said Hermione. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Cris?" **

"How can you still defend him?" James asked.

"I don't know, I was thirteen at the time." Hermione said.

**"No," said Cris, getting into bed. "But it doesn't do anything else either. And it'll hurt more by the sound of it."**

**As she swung herself onto the bed, her arm flapped pointlessly.**

**Ron and Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. Madam Pomfrey was holding a large bottle of something labeled Skele-Gro. **

"I hate that stuff." Padfoot said.

"It is disgusting." Cris said.

**"You're in for a rough night," she said, pouring out a steaming beaker full and handing it to her. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."**

**So was taking the Skele-Gro. It tasted revolting. Cris coughed and it sprayed from her mouth. **

"It does make you want to spit it out." James said.

**"What did you expect?" she said impatiently filling another beaker. "Pumpkin juice, here." **

"Just a little bit." Cris said sheepishly.

**It burned Cris' mouth and throat as it went down, making her cough and splutter. Still tut-tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron and Hermione to help Cris gulp down some water. "We won, though," said Ron, a grin breaking across his face. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face… he looked ready to kill…"**

**"I want to know how he fixed that Bludger," said Hermione darkly.**

**"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Cris, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff…"**

"It doesn't," Tonks said.

"I know, it was just some wishful thinking." Cris said.

**"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking," said Ron. **

The Gryffindor's in the room chuckled a little at the irony.

**The door of the hospital wing burst open at that moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had arrived to see Cris. "Unbelievable flying, Cris," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. **

"I should have noticed." Draco said.

"Everyone screws up every now and then." Cris said.

**Malfoy didn't seem too happy." They had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice; they gathered around Cris' bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over, **

"She wouldn't have let you do that." Remus said.

"It was worth a shot." George said with a shrug of his shoulders.

**shouting, "This girl needs rest, she's got thirty-three bones to re-grow! Out! OUT!" And Cris was left alone, with nothing to distract her from the stabbing pains in her limp arm. **

"That does suck, how on earth do you fall asleep?" Padfoot asked.

"Very carefully," Cris said.

**Hours and hours later, Cris woke quite suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain: Her arm now felt full of large splinters. **

A number of people around the room winced in sympathy.

**For a second, she thought that was what had woken her. Then, with a thrill of horror, she realized that someone was sponging her forehead in the dark.**

"Who was it?" Sirius asked.

"The person who tried to stop me from returning to Hogwarts." Cris said.

**"Get off!" she said loudly, and then, "Dobby!"**

"It was Dobby?" Robin asked shocked.

"Yeah, he explains everything." Cris said.

**The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at Cris through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose. **

"Why was he crying?" Teddy asked.

"He didn't mean for me to get hurt." Cris explained.

**"Cristal Potter came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Cristal Potter. Ah miss, why didn't you heed Dobby? Why didn't Cristal Potter go back home when she missed the train?" **

"He blocked the platform?" Sirius asked wide eyed.

"Just let Professor Dumbledore read Siri; Dobby explains." Cris said.

**Cris heaved herself up on her pillows and pushed Dobby's sponge away.**

**"What're you doing here?" she said. "And how did you know I missed the train?"**

**Dobby's lip trembled and Cris was seized by a sudden suspicion.**

**"It was you!" she said slowly. "You stopped the barrier from letting us through!" **

"You still catch on quick right after waking up, even with the stabbing pains in your arm." Kingsley said with a smile.

**"Indeed yes, miss," said Dobby, nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Dobby hid and watched for Cristal Potter and sealed the gateway and Dobby had to iron his hands afterward" he showed Cris ten long, bandaged fingers —**

"Poor Dobby." Hermione muttered with tears in her eyes.

**"but Dobby didn't care, miss, for he thought Cristal Potter was safe, and never did Dobby dream that Cristal Potter would get to school another way!" **

"What can I say; I'm a very stubborn person." Cris said with a smile.

"That you are and we are very happy for it." Sirius said.

**He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his ugly head.**

**"Dobby was so shocked when he heard Cristal Potter was back at Hogwarts, he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, miss…" **

Hermione was now glaring at Draco who shrank back under the glare.

**Cris slumped back onto her pillows.**

**"You nearly got Ron and me expelled," she said fiercely. "You'd better get lost before my bones come back, Dobby, or I might strangle you."**

**Dobby smiled weakly.**

**"Dobby is used to death threats, miss. Dobby gets them five times a day at home." **

Hermione's glare heated up even more on Draco causing him to look away from her brown gaze.

**He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Cris felt her anger ebb away in spite of herself.**

**"Why d'you wear that thing, Dobby?" she asked curiously.**

**"This, miss?" said Dobby, plucking at the pillowcase. "'Tis a mark of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. Dobby can only be freed if his masters present him with clothes, miss. The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, **

Cris grinned slightly; this was where she got the idea from.

**miss, for then he would be free to leave their house forever." **

Cris' grin widened and a number of people noticed but didn't ask.

**Dobby mopped his bulging eyes and said suddenly, "Cristal Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make —" **

"It was him!" snarled Sirius.

"Don't hurt him Siri; he just wanted to protect me." Cris said.

"Fine, I won't kill him yet." Sirius mumbled.

**"Your Bludger?" said Cris, anger rising once more. "What d'you mean, your Bludger? You made that Bludger try and kill me?"**

**"Not kill you, miss, never kill you!" said Dobby, shocked. "Dobby wants to save Cristal Potter's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here miss! Dobby only wanted Cristal Potter hurt enough to be sent home!" **

"They wouldn't send her home." James said.

**"Oh, is that all?" said Cris angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted me sent home in pieces?"**

**"Ah, if Cristal Potter only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If she knew what she means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! **

"Don't say anything." Cris hissed at the twins and both Sirius'. They nodded and Dumbledore continued.

**Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, miss! We house-elves were treated like vermin, miss! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, miss," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase. "But mostly, miss, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Cristal Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, miss, and Cristal Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, miss… And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Cristal Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more."**

"So it was opened once before." Charlie said.

**Dobby froze, horrorstruck, then grabbed Cris' water jug from her bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of sight. A second later, he crawled back onto the bed, cross-eyed, muttering, "Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby…"**

**"So there is a Chamber of Secrets?" Cris whispered. "And did you say it's been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!"**

**She seized the elf's bony wrist as Dobby's hand inched toward the water jug. "But I'm not Muggle-born — how can I be in danger from the Chamber?"**

**"Ah, miss, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Cristal Potter must not be here when they happen — go home, Cristal Potter, go home. Cristal Potter must not meddle in this, miss, 'tis too dangerous —" **

"Like that would happen." Cris said.

"Danger finds you, remember." Ron said with a smile. Cris smiled back and nodded.

**"Who is it, Dobby?" Cris said, keeping a firm hold on Dobby's wrist to stop him from hitting himself with the water jug again. "Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?"**

**"Dobby can't, miss, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell!" squealed the elf. "Go home, Cristal Potter, go home!"**

"But she can't," Sirius said.

"She will never go back there." Remus growled.

**"I'm not going anywhere!" said Cris fiercely. "One of my best friends is Muggle-born; she'll be first in line if the Chamber really has been opened —" **

"Thanks Cris," Hermione said.

"It's no problem; I would protect my friends and family first." Cris said.

"You really are a special person." Remus said with a big grin.

**"Cristal Potter risks her own life for her friends!" moaned Dobby in a kind of miserable ecstasy. "So noble! So valiant! But she must save herself, she must, Cristal Potter must not —"**

**Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Cris heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside.**

**"Dobby must go!" breathed the elf, terrified. There was a loud crack, and Cris' fist was suddenly clenched on thin air. **

**She slumped back into bed, her eyes on the dark doorway to the hospital wing as the footsteps drew nearer.**

"We should have known that she wasn't asleep." McGonagall said. Cris grinned sheepishly at her head of house.

**Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long woolly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a bed.**

**"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Cris' bed out of sight. Cris lay quite still, pretending to be asleep.**

McGonagall shook her head and Dumbledore just chuckled.

**She heard urgent voices, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. She heard a sharp intake of breath.**

**"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed.**

**"Another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs."**

**"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall. "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter." **

"Of course he was." Cris mumbled.

**Cris' stomach gave a horrible lurch. Slowly and carefully, she raised herself a few inches so she could look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face.**

**It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera.**

**"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey.**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think… If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate — who knows what might have —" **

Everyone shook their head fondly at the headmaster.

**The three of them stared down at Colin. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the camera out of Colin's rigid grip.**

**"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly.**

**Dumbledore didn't answer. He opened the back of the camera.**

**"Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey.**

**A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Cris, three beds away, caught the acrid smell of burnt plastic. **

"That is a strong smell." Remus said.

**"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. "All melted…"**

**"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently.**

"Something you don't want to know." Bill said sadly.

**"It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."**

**Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore.**

**"But, Albus… surely… who?"**

"It has something to do with riddles." Cris said with a chuckle. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.

**"The question is not who," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. "The question is, how…" **

"So you know who it could be but don't know how?" Lily asked.

"Precisely Miss Evans." Dumbledore said with a smile.

**And from what Cris could see of Professor McGonagall's shadowy face, she didn't understand this any better than Cris did.**

"And that is the chapter. Minerva, I believe you are next." Dumbledore said closing the book and handing it to the cat animagus. McGonagall took it and began reading the nest chapter.


	14. Chapter 11: The Dueling Club

"**Chapter 11: The Dueling Club," **McGonagall read with a groan.

"This doesn't sound too bad." Lily said.

"As long as it's Flitwick that is leading it." James said.

"However knowing Cris' luck I don't think it's Flitwick." Moony said.

"Why don't you read and find out." Cris said with a smile.

**Cris woke up on Sunday morning to find the dormitory blazing with winter sunlight and her arm re-boned but very stiff. **

"It'll do that." James said.

"And it sucks." Cris said.

**She sat up quickly and looked over at Colin's bed, but it had been blocked from view by the high curtains Cris had changed behind yesterday. Seeing that she was awake, Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a breakfast tray and then began bending and stretching her arm and fingers.**

**"All in order," she said as Cris clumsily fed herself porridge left-handed. **

A lot of people chuckled and Cris glared at them.

"You try feeding yourself left handed sometime." Cris said crossing her arms.

"I have and it sucks." James said.

**"When you've finished eating, you may leave." **

"At least she let you leave." Moony said.

"Yeah, she could have made you stay in the for the rest of the day." Padfoot said.

"Oh I know, she's threatened to tie me to that hospital bed before." Cris said.

"What do ya know; she said that to me as well." James said with a smile.

**Cris dressed as quickly as she could and hurried off to Gryffindor Tower, desperate to tell Ron and Hermione about Colin and Dobby, but they weren't there. **

"Where were you two?" Lily asked.

"Somewhere." Hermione said with a smile.

"Doing something dangerous I guess." Sirius said.

"It could be said that it might be dangerous." Hermione said.

**Cris left to look for them, wondering where they could have got to and feeling slightly hurt that they weren't interested in whether she had her bones back or not. **

"Of course we care; we just had to get started on everything." Hermione said.

"I understand that." Cris said.

**As Cris passed the library, Percy Weasley strolled out of it, looking in far better spirits than last time they'd met.**

**"Oh, hello, Cristal," he said. "Excellent flying yesterday, really excellent. Gryffindor has just taken the lead for the House Cup — you earned fifty points!"**

**"Just Cris," she said. **

"Why couldn't you just call her what she has asked to be called?" Bill asked Percy.

"I don't know, I just do." Percy said.

**"You haven't seen Ron or Hermione, have you?' **

"Why would he, he can't pay attention to everything around him." Ginny said.

"That true." Charlie said.

**"No, I haven't," said Percy, his smile fading. "I hope Ron's not in another girls' toilet…'"**

**Cris forced a laugh, watched Percy walk out of sight, and then headed straight for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. **

"I should have stopped them." Percy said.

"If you had Ginny wouldn't be alive and Hogwarts would be closed." Cris said. Ginny paled even more but Dumbledore just nodded his head in agreement.

"It got that bad?" Remus asked.

"Yeah," Ron mumbled.

**She couldn't see why Ron and Hermione would be in there again, but after making sure that neither Filch nor any prefects were around, she opened the door and heard their voices coming from a locked stall. **

"Are you sure they were doing nothing bad?" Sirius asked with a big grin.

"Well I don't know, but they did have the cauldron in there with them so, I don't know." Cris said.

"Cris!" Ron and Hermione yelled their faces bright red.

"What, well you could have been." Cris said with a grin.

**"It's me," she said, closing the door behind her. There was a clunk, a splash, and a gasp from within the stall and she saw Hermione's eye peering through the keyhole.**

**"Cris!" she said. "You gave us such a fright — come in. How's your arm?"**

**"Fine," said Cris, squeezing into the stall. **

"All three of you could fit into the stall?" James asked.

"Well, it was tight but we could do it." Hermione said.

"How small were you?" Padfoot asked.

"Well Ron was taller than the both of us and I was taller than Cris." Hermione said.

"I know I was a pipsqueak, can we please continue?" Cris asked.

**An old cauldron was perched on the toilet, and a crackling from under the rim told Cris they had lit a fire beneath it. Conjuring up portable, waterproof fires was a specialty of Hermione's. **

"That is pretty advanced magic." Remus said.

"Remmy, this is Hermione, Cris and Ron we're talking about; they do crazy stuff all the time." Robin said.

"I know, but still." Remus said.

**"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained as Cris, with difficulty, locked the stall again.**

**"We've decided this is the safest place to hide it." **

"Good thinking, no one would think to do it in there." Moody said in approval.

**Cris started to tell them about Colin, but Hermione interrupted.**

**"We already know — we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going —" **

"You three are probably the biggest eavesdroppers this school has ever had." McGonagall said shaking her head.

"It's not our fault that you decide to talk about something as we were hiding." Cris said with a smile.

**"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," snarled Ron. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match; he took it out on Colin." **

"Are you sure that he can predict certain things?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, it's happened before, this is different, he didn't just blurt it out." Cris said.

"I still don't get how you are failing Divination." Hermione said shaking her head.

"Don't ask me." Ron said raising his arms in surrender.

**"'There's something else," said Cris, watching Hermione tearing bundles of knotgrass and throwing them into the potion. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."**

**Ron and Hermione looked up, amazed. Cris told them everything Dobby had told her — or hadn't told her. Hermione and Ron listened with their mouths open. **

"You guys tend to do that a lot." Cris said.

"You tend to surprise us a lot." Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah well, I don't plan on doing that, it just happens." Cris said.

"We know," Ron and Hermione said.

**"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said.**

**"This settles it," said Ron in a triumphant voice. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school." **

"How did it get around?" Lily asked.

"It'll tell you in a few chapters, I'm sure." Cris said.

"How big was the creature?" Remus asked.

"Bigger than you think." Ron said.

That response left more questions than answers but they left it alone as McGonagall continued reading.

**"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron.**

**"Or maybe it can disguise itself — pretend to be a suit of armor or something — I've read about Chameleon Ghouls —"pouring dead lacewings on top of the leeches. He crumpled up the empty lacewing bag and looked at Cris.**

**"So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm." He shook his head. "You know what, Cris? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life he's going to kill you." **

"God, I hope not." James said.

"He was actually very helpful last year." Cris said.

"What do you mean?" Lily and the marauders asked.

"You'll see in the fourth book." Cris said.

"I'm really starting to hate that answer." Sirius mumbled.

"You'll live." Robin said giving him a kiss.

**When they left the bathroom Hermione pulled her aside and told Ron that they would meet him in the common room. Hermione pulled her down a corridor and over to an empty classroom where they could talk privately. **

"**Cris, you know I saw those scars yesterday." Hermione said looking into her friend's green eyes. **

"**I know; can you just leave it alone?" Cris asked, she hoped she wouldn't press the matter further. **

"**No Cris, why do you have all those scars?" Hermione asked. **

"Do you tell her?" Remus asked looking at his honorary niece.

"No, I didn't want anyone to know." Cris mumbled looking down into her lap.

"**It's nothing Hermione; can you just leave it alone?" Cris asked pleading with her friend to leave it.**

"**I can't Cris, why can't you answer my question?" Hermione asked her eyes filling with tears. **

"**Please, I'll tell you when I'm ready. Just leave it for now; we have bigger things to worry about then my home life." Cris said. **

"**Alright, talk to me, when you're ready. I'll always be there." Hermione said. Cris smiled gratefully as Hermione gave her a hug before they went to meet back up with Ron.**

"I had my suspicions after I saw the scars." Hermione said quietly.

"Then why didn't you tell someone?" Remus asked.

"It wasn't mine to tell. I had hoped that Cris would go to someone, but I was obviously mistaken." Hermione said.

"I didn't want anyone to know." Cris said. There were many people in the room that seemed pissed, so McGonagall continued to break the tension.

**The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone. Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms, was distraught, but Cris felt that Fred and George were going the wrong way about cheering her up. **

"We were trying to help." Fred said.

"I understand that, it just didn't help much." Ginny said.

"Next time you get upset, we will do something completely different." George said.

"Do I even want to know what?" Ginny asked.

"No," the twins said.

**They were taking turns covering themselves with fur or boils and jumping out at her from behind statues. **

"Oh yes, that's very helpful." Mrs. Weasley said glaring at the twins.

"Actually mum, it was pretty funny." Ginny said.

"You didn't seem like it was." Fred said.

"I know, but it was just something I had on my mind." Ginny said.

**They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, told them he was going to write to Mrs. Weasley and tell her Ginny was having nightmares. **

"I wasn't having nightmares. I was scared and I didn't know who to go to." Ginny said.

"You should have at least told your brothers, they would know who to talk to." Mrs. Weasley said. Ginny nodded and McGonagall continued.

**Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices was sweeping the school. **

"How did we not know that this was happening?" McGonagall asked.

"Students are very clever and sneaky." Dumbledore said with the ever present twinkle in his eyes.

**Neville Longbottom bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail before the other Gryffindor boys pointed out that he was in no danger; he was a pureblood, and therefore unlikely to be attacked.**

**"They went for Filch first," Neville said his round face fearful. "And everyone knows I'm almost a Squib." **

"No you're not, you just need some confidence." Remus said. Neville nodded and smiled gratefully over to Cris.

**In the second week of December Professor McGonagall came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Cris, Ron, and Hermione signed her list; they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck them as very suspicious. **

"Why were you staying?" Sirius asked.

"Everyone stays for Christmas at least once. Besides, my mom said that she and my father were going on a romantic getaway or something along those lines." Draco said.

"Well Christmas at Hogwarts is the best." Padfoot said. Cris nodded enthusiastically along with her godfather.

**The holidays would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion and try to worm a confession out of him.**

**Unfortunately, the potion was only half finished. They still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snape's private stores. Cris privately felt she'd rather face Slytherin's legendary monster than let Snape catch her robbing his office. **

"Now, I would rather be in Snape's office then to face that monster again." Cris whispered to Hermione who nodded in agreement.

**"What we need," said Hermione briskly as Thursday afternoon's double Potions lesson loomed nearer, "is a diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need."**

**Cris and Ron looked at her nervously.**

**"I think I'd better do the actual stealing," Hermione continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "You two will be expelled if you get into any more trouble, and I've got a clean record. **

"Well then anyway. Not so much anymore." Hermione said.

"You know after this we should probably find a new place to do the DA, unless Draco wants to join." Cris said.

**So all you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so."**

**Cris smiled feebly. Deliberately causing mayhem in Snape's Potions class was about as safe as poking a sleeping dragon in the eye. **

"Well I think the dragon may be safer." Charlie said.

"Why is it I think the opposite?" Lily asked.

"That's just Charlie; he has dragons on the brain." Bill said.

"Hey!" Charlie protested. His brothers and sister laughed and McGonagall continued reading.

**Potions lessons took place in one of the large dungeons. Thursday afternoon's lesson proceeded in the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively. Draco Malfoy, who was Snape's favorite student, kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Ron and Cris, who knew that if they retaliated they would get detention faster than you could say 'Unfair.' **

McGonagall stopped reading only to glare at the potion's master before continuing with the chapter.

**Cris' Swelling Solution was far too runny, **

"So you knew the problem, yet still continued to try and fail on purpose?" Snape asked.

"It's been ingrained into me since I started school. Every time I got better grades then Dudley I would get punished and then forced to do his work so he would get passing grades." Cris said.

Both sets of marauders, Lily, the Weasley's, Hermione, McGonagall, Tonks, Kingsley and Neville fumed.

"I know I had a horrible childhood but can we please continue reading?" Cris asked. McGonagall picked up where she left off.

**but she had her mind on more important things. She was waiting for Hermione's signal, and she hardly listened as Snape paused to sneer at her watery potion. When Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville, **

"Stop bullying Neville, no wonder he's afraid if you." Remus snarled at Snape who didn't say anything in reply.

**Hermione caught Cris' eye and nodded. **

**Cris ducked swiftly down behind her cauldron, pulled one of Fred's Filibuster fireworks out of her pocket, **

"So that's where it went to." Fred said with a grin.

"Did you pull it off?" George asked. Cris only grinned but didn't answer.

**and gave it a quick prod with her wand. The firework began to fizz and sputter. Knowing she had only seconds, Cris straightened up, took aim, and lobbed it into the air; it landed right on target in Goyle's cauldron.**

**Goyle's potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Malfoy got a face full and his nose began to swell like a balloon;**

**Goyle blundered around, his hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the size of a dinner plate — Snape was trying to restore calm and find out what had happened. Through the confusion, Cris saw Hermione slip quietly into Snape's office.**

The marauders stood and applauded.

"Don't encourage them!" Lily shrieked.

"It's already done and over with Lils, besides, wouldn't you do something similar if this happened while we were in school?" James asked.

"Alright I see your point but still," Lily said. Cris grinned, it seems as though she got her parents together earlier than what she had been told.

**"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft — when I find out who did this —"**

**Cris tried not to laugh as she watched Malfoy hurry forward, his head drooping with the weight of a nose like a small melon. **

Those who were not affected by this laughed and the rest of the room were laughing with them, picturing it in their heads.

**As half the class lumbered up to Snape's desk, some weighted down with arms like clubs, others unable to talk through gigantic puffed-up lips, Cris saw Hermione slide back into the dungeon, the front of her robes bulging.**

**When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the various swellings had subsided, Snape swept over to Goyle's cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. There was a sudden hush.**

**"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, "I shall make sure that person is expelled."**

**Cris arranged her face into what she hoped was a puzzled expression. **

"You still need to work on that." Neville said.

"I'm getting better at it." Cris said with a shrug.

"That you are." Remus said with a chuckle.

**Snape was looking right at her,**

"You can't prove that it was her!" James sneered.

"And now I do know for a fact that it was." Snape sneered right back.

"And you can't do anything about it." Padfoot said with a smirk.

**and the bell that rang ten minutes later could not have been more welcome.**

**"He knew it was me," Cris told Ron and Hermione as they hurried back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "I could tell."**

**Hermione threw the new ingredients into the cauldron and began to stir feverishly.**

**"It'll be ready in two weeks," she said happily.**

**"Snape can't prove it was you," said Ron reassuringly to Cris. "What can he do?"**

**"Knowing Snape, something foul," said Cris as the potion frothed and bubbled.**

**A week later, Cris, Ron, and Hermione were walking across the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited.**

**"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus. **

"I bet you learned more with Cris then you ever did with this idiot." Sirius said.

"You know?" the twins, Ginny, Neville and Luna asked.

"Of course I know, Cris asked my advice on it and I said go for it. It's better than learning nothing at all." Sirius said.

"That's very true." Everyone said.

**"First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days…"**

**"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron, **

"No it can't, it doesn't even have arms." Cris said.

"So what is it?" they asked.

"Give it time." The trio said.

**but he, too, read the sign with interest.**

**"Could be useful," he said to Cris and Hermione as they went into dinner. "Shall we go?"**

**Cris and Hermione were all for it, so at eight o'clock that evening they hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.**

**"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young — maybe it'll be him." **

"I wish it was him, or someone better than who we got." Cris said.

"You got stuck with Lockhart didn't you?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, yes we did." Hermione said.

**"As long as it's not —" Cris began, but she ended on a groan: Gilderoy Lockhart**

"You guys are screwed." Remus said.

"I don't know; I did learn one thing." Cris said taping her cheek.

"And what is that?" Sirius asked.

"Something that I used against Voldemort last year." Cris said.

"Really?" Sirius asked. Cris nodded her head but didn't say anything else.

**was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black. **

**Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions —For full details, see my published works. **

"Yeah sure whatever," Padfoot said.

"There are better things to do with our time." James said.

"Yep, like play quidditch, or do pranks." Fred said.

**Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry — you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"**

**"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered in Cris' ear. **

"Nah, Snape could finish off Lockhart without any problem." Padfoot said.

"Yeah so the best you would be is one teacher gone but still have the dungeon bat." James said. Everyone besides Snape, the teachers and Mrs. Weasley chuckled a bit.

**Snape's upper lip was curling. Cris wondered why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been looking at her like that she'd have been running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. **

"Anyone would." Padfoot said.

"Anyone with a sense to do so anyway." Sirius said.

**Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. **

"Never take your eyes off your enemy." Moody said.

**Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.**

**"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. **

"Oh yeah, because that would definitely happen in a real duel." Padfoot said.

"I can totally see Voldemort do that." Cris said.

"That would definitely be entertaining." Sirius said.

**"On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."**

**"I wouldn't bet on that," Cris murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth. **

Some of the group chuckled at that.

**"One — two — three —"**

**Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.**

"So that's where you learned it from." Sirius said with a chuckle.

**Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered.**

**Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.**

"Who cares," the group said.

**"Who cares?" said Cris and Ron together. **

"I don't have a comment for that." Bill said.

"It's okay; people say the same thing all the time." Cris said.

**Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.**

**"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm — as you see, I've lost my wand — ah, thank you, Miss Brown — yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy — however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…"**

"Sure it was." James said.

"Keep telling yourself that." Padfoot said.

**Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me —"**

**They moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Snape reached Cris and Ron first.**

**"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter —"**

**Cris moved automatically toward Hermione.**

"Like he would let you." Lily said.

"It was worth a shot." Cris said.

"Everything is worth a shot, just give it time." Remus said with a smile.

**"I don't think so," said Snape, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. **

"Are you really trying to cause them to kill each other?" Remus asked.

"At the time they hated each other, they would be aiming to seriously hurt each other." McGonagall said.

**And you, Miss Granger — you can partner Miss Bulstrode."**

**Malfoy strutted over, **

"I don't strut!" Draco said.

"Yeah, you do." All the kids in the room said.

**smirking.**

**Behind him walked a Slytherin girl who reminded Cris of a picture she'd seen in Holidays with Hags. **

"She does kind of look like that." Remus laughed.

"I love your descriptions pup." Sirius laughed.

**She was large and square and her heavy jaw jutted aggressively. Hermione gave her a weak smile that she did not return.**

**"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!" **

Cris flinched very slightly and her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before she calmed down again. The twins noticed and added that to the questions they had along with the tattoo they saw the other night on her shoulder.

**Cris and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other. **

"Good, never take your eyes off the enemy." Moody said

**"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents — only to disarm them — we don't want any accidents — one… two… three —"**

**Cris swung her wand high, but Malfoy had already started on 'two': **

"Of course he did." Charlie growled glaring at the Malfoy in the room. Draco blushed slightly and McGonagall continued reading.

**His spell hit Cris so hard she felt as though she'd been hit over the head with a saucepan. **

Everyone stiffened at the reminder of what she had to go through at the Dursley's.

**She stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Cris pointed her wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, "Rictusempra!"**

**A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach and he doubled up, wheezing.**

**"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd, as Malfoy sank to his knees; Crus had hit him with a Tickling Charm, and he could barely move for laughing. Cris hung back; with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch Malfoy while he was on the floor, **

"You're too damn kind sometimes." Sirius said shaking his head but had a smile on his face.

"I know that Voldemort would do that to me, but that doesn't mean that I have to stoop to his level." Cris said.

"You are one courageous but ignorant girl." Remus said.

"I know but still." Cris said.

**but this was a mistake; **

"Of course it was. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody yelled. He made the future kids jump slightly and the three of them glared at him.

**gasping for breath, Malfoy pointed his wand at Cris' knees, choked, "Tarantallegra!" and the next second Cris' legs began to jerk around out of her control in a kind of quickstep.**

**"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.**

**"Finite Incantatem!" he shouted; Cris' feet stopped dancing, Malfoy stopped laughing, and they were able to look up.**

**A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done; but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. **

"Were you okay?" Robin asked. She was worried and it doesn't help that her pregnant hormones were giving her problems either.

"Yeah, I was fine." Hermione said.

**Cris leapt forward and pulled Millicent off. **

"See, Cris pulled her off of me." Hermione said.

"It took her a while to do it though." Ron said.

"Mia, slap him for me." Cris said with a glare. Hermione did and McGonagall continued reading.

**It was difficult: She was a lot bigger than she was. **

"I imagine it was." Remus said.

"I know, I was short." Cris said with a grimace.

**"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan…"**

**"Careful there, Miss Fawcett… pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second."**

**"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. **

"Of course you are, you ignorant bastard." Lily said.

"You cursed." James said staring wide eyed at the girl he loved.

"You think that was bad, you should have seen her when she went into labor." Sirius said with a shudder. He then looked at his fiancé and his future son and paled because he remembered what Keiran said about having a younger sister.

"I'll try not to curse at you to badly." Robin said. Sirius nodded a bit and McGonagall continued.

**He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair — Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you —"**

**"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face went pinker.**

Everyone was now glaring at the potion's master.

**"How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile. **

"You really are trying to get them to kill each other aren't you?" Lily asked.

"Not intentionally, I just thought it would be a good pairing, some friendly competition if you will." Snape said.

"Yeah, sure, have them try and kill each other." James said.

**"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Cris and Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.**

**"Now, Cris," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."**

**He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it.**

**Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops— my wand is a little overexcited—" **

"Sure it is; I think he is just a little excited." Lily said.

"Just a little bit." Remus said.

**Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too. Cris looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"**

**"Scared?" muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn't hear him.**

**"You wish," said Cris out of the corner of her mouth.**

**Lockhart cuffed Cris merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Cris!" **

"I never want to do what you do." Cris said.

"Good, anyone is better than that idiot." James said.

**"What drop my wand?" **

Everyone chuckled nervously.

**But Lockhart wasn't listening.**

**"Three — two — one — go!" he shouted.**

**Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!" **

"Why that spell, you could have done any other, but you decided to throw a snake at her?" Padfoot asked.

"It's was Professor Snape's idea." Draco said. Everyone turned to glare at Snape.

**The end of his wand exploded. Cris watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.**

**"Don't move, Potter," said Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Cris standing motionless, **

"I was wondering if were scared of snakes like your mother was." Snape said.

"Interesting way to see. I've always liked snakes, garner snakes would always come up to me as I was doing to garden for Aunt Petunia." Cris said.

**eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it…"**

**"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. **

"And he just makes it worse, doesn't he?" Lily J asked her mom.

"Of course he does, when doesn't he." Cris said.

**He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.**

**Cris wasn't sure what made her do it. She wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All she knew was that her legs were carrying her forward as though she was on casters and that she had shouted stupidly at the snake, "Leave him!" **

"So that's what you said." Everyone said.

"Oh yeah. I forgot you are a parselmouth." James said.

"Now everyone is going to get scared of you." Lily said.

"It was stupid thing to do." Cris said.

**And miraculously — inexplicably — the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, black garden hose, its eyes now on Cris. Cris felt the fear drain out of her. She knew the snake wouldn't attack anyone now, though how she knew it, she couldn't have explained.**

**She looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful — but certainly not angry and scared. **

"You didn't know that you could speak it didn't you?" James asked.

"No, it was just weird, and I couldn't speak later that night when I went to bed." Cris said.

"That's weird, I'm sure it all be explained in the later books." Lily said with a thoughtful expression.

**"What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and before Cris could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall.**

**Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Cris in an unexpected way: It was a shrewd and calculating look, and Cris didn't like it.**

"I wasn't expecting you to be able to speak that language. Although I do know why now, it was just unexpected." Snape said.

"Why can she?" the group asked.

"It'll explain at the end I'm sure, now Minerva, if you please." Dumbledore said.

**She was also dimly aware of an ominous muttering all around the walls. Then she felt a tugging on the back of her robes.**

**"Come on," said Ron's voice in her ear. "Move — come on —" **

"Good, get her out of there." Mr. Weasley said for the first time in a while.

"They'll eat her alive." Lily said worriedly.

**Ron steered her out of the hall, Hermione hurrying alongside them. As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something.**

**Cris didn't have a clue what was going on, and neither Ron nor Hermione explained anything until they had dragged her all the way up to the empty Gryffindor common room.**

**Then Ron pushed Cris into an armchair and said, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"**

**"I'm a what?" said Cris.**

**"A Parselmouth!" said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!"**

**"I know," said Cris. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once — long story — but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to that was before I knew I was a witch —"**

**"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly. **

"Of course Ron," Padfoot said.

"Weren't you listening?" James asked.

"And it was bloody brilliant too." Bill said.

"Glad you guys enjoyed it." Cris said.

**"So?" said Cris. "I bet loads of people here can do it."**

**"Oh, no they can't," said Ron. "It's not a very common gift. Cris, this is bad."**

**"What's bad?" said Cris, starting to feel quite angry her normal black hair turning a bright red. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin —"**

**"Oh, that's what you said to it?"**

**"What d'you mean? You were there — you heard me —"**

**"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything — no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something — it was creepy, you know —"**

**Cris gaped at him her hair turning a shade skin should be.**

**"I spoke a different language? But — I didn't realize — how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?'"**

"That isn't normal is it?" Hermione asked.

"No, normal parselmouths can speak it whenever they want to." Sirius said.

"Wow, good to know that I'm not normal." Cris said.

"But you're still you." Fred said.

"And we love you for being you." George said. Cris blushed brightly and McGonagall continued wanting to get this part over with.

**Ron shook his head. Both he and Hermione were looking as though someone had died. Cris couldn't see what was so terrible.**

**"D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" she said. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?" **

"And yet you still keep your sense of humor." Sirius said with a smile on his face shaking his head.

"Of course, it comes out when things get tense." Cris said with a shrug.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Remus said.

"Don't question it, just go with it." Robin said.

**"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."**

**Cris' mouth fell open.**

**"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-granddaughter or something —"**

**"But I'm not," said Cris, with a panic she couldn't quite explain.**

**"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."**

**Cris lay awake for hours that night. Through a gap in the curtains around her four-poster she watched snow starting to drift past the tower window and wondered…Could she be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? **

"Nope, just a Gryffindor and I think maybe Ravenclaw." James said.

"See, absolutely nothing to worry about." Cris said to her friends.

"You're right, we should have realized." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

**to do She didn't know anything about his father's family, after all. The Dursley's had always forbidden questions about her wizarding relatives.**

**Quietly, Cris tried to say something in Parseltongue. The words wouldn't come. It seemed she had to be face-to-face with a snake it. **

"Or with another speaker." Cris said.

"Voldemort spoke it in front of you didn't he?" Sirius asked. Cris nodded her head but didn't say anything else. The twins hugged her to them and she sunk into their embrace, instantly feeling loved.

**But I'm in Gryffindor, Cris thought. The Sorting Hat wouldn't have put me in here if I had Slytherin blood…**

**Ah, said a nasty little voice in her brain, but the Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Slytherin, don't you remember? **

"Even your subconscious wants to turn against you." Hermione said.

"It's been known to do that when I'm asleep." Cris said.

"You need some way to keep these nightmares away." Lily said.

"I have absolutely no idea how, what does seem to help is making myself so exhausted that all my mind wants to do is sleep." Cris said.

"There has got to be a better way to do that." Lily said looking at her daughter worriedly.

"If there is I haven't found it." Cris said.

**Cris turned over. She'd see Justin the next day in Herbology and she'd explain that she'd been calling the snake off, not egging it on, which (she thought angrily, pummeling her pillow) any fool should have realized.**

**By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term was cancelled: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey.**

**Cris fretted about this next to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Hermione used their time off to play a game of wizard chess.**

**"For heaven's sake, Cris," said Hermione, exasperated, as one of Ron's bishops wrestled her knight off his horse and dragged him off the board. "Go and find Justin if it's so important to you."**

**So Cris got up and left through the portrait hole, wondering where Justin might be.**

**The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime because of the thick, swirling grey snow at every window. Shivering, Cris walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger. **

"Oh, I remember him, can't remember his name but it was good." Fred said.

"That it was, I wish I could have seen it." George said.

"It's always good like that. We turned Pete into a rat before we became animagi and the caretakers cat at the time chased him around." James said.

"And you and Black got a month of detentions for it." McGonagall said.

"It was worth it." Padfoot said.

**Resisting the urge to take a look, Cris walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.**

**A group of the Hufflepuffs who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn't seem to be working. Between the long lines of high bookshelves, Cris could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation.**

**She couldn't see whether Justin was among them. She was walking toward them when something of what they were saying met her ears, and she paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section. **

"Oh the irony." James said.

"I know, it was pretty good." Cris said.

**"So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as her next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told her he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?" **

Ron and Hermione looked pissed and Cris looked away.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't want to worry you." Cris said.

"Of course not, you never want to worry us about anything." Ron said.

**"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.**

**"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly, "she's a Parselmouth.**

"And that means she did it because?" Lily J asked.

"It doesn't, they were just being paranoid." Cris said.

**Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark witch or wizard. **

"We know of one that isn't dark." The twins said. Cris smiled and kissed them as McGonagall said.

**Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? **

"Yes," everyone said.

**They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue." **

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean anything, does it?" Robin asked.

**There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie went on, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of her while she was lying in the mud. Next thing we know — Creevey's been attacked." **

"Well they do have logic behind it." Moody said.

"Still doesn't mean she did it." Tonks said.

**"She always seems so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly,**

"Hannah is sweet; I can't believe that she ended up with my cousin." Cris said.

"Dudley is really nice now." Keiran said.

"Well now," Teddy said.

**"and, well, she's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. She can't be all bad, can she?" **

"Thank you!" Cris said with a smile.

**Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs bent closer, and Cris edged nearer so that she could catch Ernie's words.**

**"No one knows how she survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, she was only a baby when it happened. She should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." **

"It was my mum that saved me. I had nothing to do with it." Cris said. Lily walked over to her and hugged her and Cris hugged back.

**He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, "That's probably why You- Know-Who wanted to kill her in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding?" **

"Absolutely nothing, well other the metamorphmagus but I think everyone knows about it." Cris said.

"They sure do, in fact some people bet what color it would be from day to day." Neville said.

"They really do?" Cris asked. They nodded and McGonagall continued reading.

**Cris couldn't take anymore. Clearing her throat loudly, she stepped out from behind the bookshelves. If she hadn't been feeling so angry, she would have found the sight that greeted her funny: Every one of the Hufflepuffs looked as though they had been petrified by the sight of her, and the color was draining out of Ernie's face.**

"Oh yes, I'm there to get you all." Cris said.

"Don't look into her green eyes, they will entrance you." George said. Cris caught his gaze and he stared lovingly into her eyes.

"Oh no, George is gone!" Fred yelled. Cris looked at him and he now stared at her lovingly as well.

"Now stay that way at least until the end of the chapter." Cris said. They nodded absently and everyone was really trying to hold in their laughter.

**"Hello," said Cris. "I'm looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley."**

**The Hufflepuffs' worst fears had clearly been confirmed. They all looked fearfully at Ernie.**

**"What do you want with him?" said Ernie in a quavering voice.**

**"I wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Dueling Club," said Cris. "Oh and Hannah thank you for sticking up for me," she said smiling at her, Hannah smiled timidly back. **

**Ernie bit his white lips and then, taking a deep breath, said, "We were all there. We saw what happened." **

"So they saw the snake move away?" Luna asked.

"Not really." Cris said.

"Are they blind or something?" Keiran asked.

"They were staring at Cris like an alien or something like that." Hermione said.

"What's an alien?" most of the people asked.

"Later," Cris, Lily, Lily J, Teddy, Keiran and Hermione said.

**"Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake backed off?" said Cris.**

**"All I saw," said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling as he spoke, "was you speaking Parseltongue **

"Git," was muttered by both Sirius' and Keiran.

**and chasing the snake toward Justin."**

**"I didn't chase it at him!" Cris said, her voice shaking with anger. "It didn't even touch him! It moved away from him," she said as thought talking to a child. **

"He was acting like a child." Cris said.

"No arguing that point." Charlie said.

**"It was a very near miss," said Ernie. "And in case you're getting ideas," he added hastily, "I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so —"**

**"- I don't care what sort of blood you've got!" said Cris fiercely. "Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns? My best friend is a Muggleborn, my mum was a muggleborn and my other friend may be a pureblood but his whole family are about Muggle and Muggleborn rights."**

**"I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with," said Ernie swiftly. **

"Anyone would hate them. But that doesn't mean that Cris hates all muggles." Sirius said.

"No I don't, it just depends on the person. The Dursley's are just like the Malfoy's." Cris said.

"Hey," Draco said.

"Sorry but it's true, about your father anyway." Cris said.

"That's true." Draco said.

**"It's not possible to live with the Dursley's and not hate them," said Cris.**

"I'd like to see him try." Remus muttered darkly.

"Other people probably won't last the day." Cris said.

"Your right, let's just leave it at that for now." Remus said.

**"I'd like to see you try it."**

**She turned on her heel and stormed out of the library, earning herself a reproving glare from Madam Pince, who was polishing the gilded cover of a large spell book.**

**Cris blundered up the corridor, barely noticing where she was going, she was in such a fury. The result was that she walked into something very large and solid, which knocked her backward onto the floor. **

"Please tell me it wasn't the monster or a wall." Lily said.

"It was neither." Cris said.

"Someone friendly then?" James asked.

"Yep, a big friend." Cris said.

"Hagrid," the marauders said.

**"Oh, hello, Hagrid," Cris said, looking up.**

**Hagrid's face was entirely hidden by a woolly, snow-covered balaclava, but it couldn't possibly be anyone else, as he filled most of the corridor in his moleskin overcoat. A dead rooster was hanging from one of his massive, gloved hands.**

**"All righ', Cris?" he said, pulling up the balaclava so he could speak. "Why aren't yeh in class?"**

**"Cancelled," said Cris, getting up. "What're you doing in here?"**

**Hagrid held up the limp rooster.**

**"Second one killed this term," he explained. "It's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin Bugbear, an' I need the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm around the hen coop."**

**He peered more closely at Cris from under his thick, snow-flecked eyebrows.**

**"Yeh sure yeh're all righ'? Yeh look all hot an' bothered —"**

**Cris couldn't bring herself to repeat what Ernie and the rest of the Hufflepuffs had been saying about her.**

"Just tell him, he wouldn't turn against you." James said.

"I know, but I just…. I didn't know what I wanted at the time; I think it go a sulk or something." Cris said.

"You do that a lot." Ginny said.

"It helps me gather my thoughts." Cris said.

"I can understand that." James said.

**"It's nothing," she said. "I'd better get going, Hagrid, it's Transfiguration next and I've got to pick up my books."**

**She walked off, her mind still full of what Ernie had said about her. "Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle-born…"**

**Cris stamped up the stairs and turned along another corridor, which was particularly dark; the torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draft that was blowing through a loose windowpane. She was halfway down the passage when she tripped headlong over something lying on the floor. **

"This doesn't sound good, you usually don't trip." James said.

"I know, this was bad though." Cris said.

"Another attack?" Moony asked. Nobody answered him which confirmed what he asked and the rest of the marauders looked solemn, wondering who was attacked this time.

**She turned to squint at what she'd fallen over and felt as though her stomach had dissolved. **

"It was Justin, wasn't it?" Lily asked. Cris nodded but didn't say anything else.

**Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. **

**And that wasn't all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight Cris had ever seen.**

**It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin's. **

"What the hell could do that to a ghost?" Sirius asked.

"I couldn't even guess." Remus said.

"Well if Moony doesn't know than we are doomed." James said.

"It's a good thing I had Hermione then." Cris said.

"Hermione figured it out?" Padfoot asked.

"Yep," Ron and Cris said as Hermione blushed. Nobody was saying anything about her being petrified yet.

**Cris got to her feet, her breathing fast and shallow, her heart doing a kind of drumroll against her ribs. She looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies. **

"Why would spiders do that?" Padfoot asked.

"They were afraid of something." Keiran said.

"But what?" Remus asked.

**The only sounds were the muffled voices of teachers from the classes on either side.**

**She could run, and no one would ever know she had been there. But she couldn't just leave them lying here… **

"You should have gone into one of the classrooms and told the teacher." McGonagall said.

"In hindsight I should have, but I wasn't thinking." Cris said.

"You were in shock." Lily said. Cris nodded and gave her mum a tentative smile.

**She had to get help… Would anyone believe she hadn't had anything to do with this?**

**As she stood there, panicking, a door right next to her opened with a bang. Peeves the Poltergeist came shooting out.**

"This isn't going to end well." James said with a groan.

"No, this just put more fuel onto the raging fire of the rumor mill." Hermione said.

"I can only imagine." Remus said.

**"Why, it's potty wee Potter!" cackled Peeves, knocking Cris' glasses askew as he bounced past her.**

"You have no idea how annoying that is." Cris said.

"No, considering we don't wear glasses and he never did it to James." Sirius said.

"Lucky," Cris muttered.

**"What's Potter up to? Why's Potter lurking —"**

**Peeves stopped, halfway through a midair somersault. Upside down, he spotted Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. He flipped the right way up, filled his lungs and, before Cris could stop him, screamed, 'ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!' **

"That is why I am not a fan of Peeves." Cris said.

"I can imagine why." Moony said.

"Anyone wouldn't be a fan after this." Robin said.

**Crash — crash — crash — door after door flew open along the corridor and people flooded out. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that Justin was in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick. Cris found herself pinned against the wall as the teachers shouted for quiet. Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her own class, one of whom still had black-and-white-striped hair. She used her wand to set off a loud bang, which restored silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner had the scene cleared somewhat than Ernie the Hufflepuff arrived, panting, on the scene.**

**"Caught in the act!" Ernie yelled, **

"Shut it!" cried most of the room.

**his face stark white, pointing his finger dramatically at Cris.**

**"That will do, Macmillan!" said Professor McGonagall sharply.**

**Peeves was bobbing overhead, now grinning wickedly, surveying the scene; Peeves always loved chaos. **

"And that is why he is always somewhere near you, you attract chaos." Luna said.

"Thanks Luna, I'll keep that in mind." Cris said with a light smile toward the weird witch.

**As the teachers bent over Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, examining them, Peeves broke into song.**

**"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, You're killing off' students, you think it's good fun —"**

"His songs haven't improved much, have they?" Padfoot asked.

"Not really." Charlie said. He was still amazed that the twins haven't said anything yet. They were still staring lovingly at Cris but they could see the hatred of the situation Cris was put in in their eyes.

**"That's enough Peeves!" barked Professor McGonagall, and Peeves zoomed away backward, with his tongue out at Cris.**

**Justin was carried up to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department, but nobody seemed to know what to do for Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin air, which she gave to Ernie with instructions to waft Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs. This Ernie did, fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft.**

Everyone chuckled a little nervously picturing the weird image for themselves.

**This left Cris and Professor McGonagall alone together.**

**"This way, Potter," she said.**

**"Professor," said Cris at once, "I swear I didn't —"**

**"This is out of my hands, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly.**

"You didn't think it was her, did you?" James asked wide eyed at the transfiguration teacher.

"No, but I had to do something." McGonagall said.

"All right, at least that's something." Lily said.

**They marched in silence around a corner and she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle.**

**"Sherbet Lemon!" she said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind her split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Cris couldn't fail to be amazed.**

"The first time to the headmaster's office is always pretty cool." Padfoot said.

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement and McGonagall continued.

**Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Cris heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Cris saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.**

**She knew now where she was being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived. **

"That would be correct my dear daughter. Now you must go in there at least once a year." James said. Lily slapped him and glared.

"Stop encouraging her." Lily hissed. James nodded and McGonagall closed the book.

"That is the chapter, Severus, I believe you are next." McGonagall said. Snape took the book and sneered at the trio who just grinned back at him.


	15. Chapter 12: The Polyjuice Potion

"**Chapter 12: The Polyjuice Potion," **Snape read.

"I don't know if you did this on purpose or if it was meant to be." Fred said to Dumbledore.

"I assure you Mr. Weasley; this was a complete choice by everyone in the room where they sat." Dumbledore said.

**They stepped off the stone staircase at the top, and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered. Professor McGonagall told Cris to wait and left her there, alone.**

**Cris looked around. One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices Cris had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting.**

"That it is, it just so warming and inviting." Moony said.

"Don't forget entertaining as well." James said.

"That is very true." Padfoot said.

**If she hadn't been scared out of her wits that she was about to be thrown out of school, she would have been very pleased to have a chance to look around it.**

**It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames.**

**There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat.**

**Cris hesitated. She cast a wary eye around the sleeping witches and wizards on the walls. Surely it couldn't hurt if she took the hat down and tried it on again? Just to see… just to make sure it had put her in the right House— **

"Don't do that, it won't matter either way." James said.

"It chose Gryffindor for a reason. Don't second guess its choice." Padfoot said.

"I know, I just wanted to be sure." Cris said.

"I think everyone can understand that." Remus said.

**She walked quietly around the desk, lifted the hat from its shelf, and lowered it slowly onto her head. It was much too large and slipped down over her eyes, just as it had done the last time she'd put it on.**

**Cris stared at the black inside of the hat, waiting. Then a small voice said in her ear, "Bee in your bonnet, Cristal Potter?"**

**"Er, yes," Cris muttered. "Er — sorry to bother you — I wanted to ask —"**

**"You've been wondering whether I put you in the right House," said the hat smartly. "Yes… you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said before —" Cris' heart leapt — "you would have done well in Slytherin —" **

"That was pretty cruel." Bill said.

"Just a bit. But I'm over that now." Cris said.

"Good, don't think about it anymore." James said. Cris smiled at her dad and Snape continued reading.

**Cris' stomach plummeted. She grabbed the point of the hat and pulled it off. It hung limply in her hand, grubby and faded. Cris pushed it back onto its shelf, feeling sick.**

**"You're wrong," she said aloud to the still and silent hat. It didn't move. Cris backed away, watching it. Then a strange, gagging noise behind her made her wheel around.**

**She wasn't alone after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird that resembled a half-plucked turkey. Cris stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. Cris thought it looked very ill. Its eyes were dull and, even as Cris watched, a couple more feathers fell out of its tail.**

**Then she realized it was a Phoenix and it looked close to a burning day. **

"You knew?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes sir, sorry." Cris said.

"You shouldn't have to pretend that you don't know something." Remus said.

"She is getting much better, now she is one of the firsts to raise her hand along with Miss Granger." McGonagall said.

**As she thought it the bird burst into flames.**

**Cris yelled in shock and backed away into the desk. It gave one loud shriek and next second there was nothing but a smoldering pile of ash on the floor.**

**The office door opened. Dumbledore came in, looking very somber.**

**"Professor," Cris gasped. "Your bird — I couldn't do anything — he just caught fire —" **

"When did you start actually telling what you know?" Remus asked. Cris looked over at Ron, Hermione and Neville in question.

"I think it might have been in fourth year." Hermione said.

"Because I told her to stop pretending as I was leaving the school." Remus said.

"What was I doing at the school?" Moony asked.

"Isn't obvious? You taught there." Lily said.

"That would be very stupid of me to do that." Moony said.

"It's not really, I can picture you teaching." James said.

**Dumbledore smiled.**

**"About time, too," he said. "He's been looking dreadful for days; I've been telling him to get a move on."**

**He chuckled at the forced stunned look on Cris' face.**

"You did a very good job; I didn't know that you were faking it." Dumbledore said.

"I do my best." Cris said.

**"Fawkes is a phoenix, Cris. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him…"**

**Cris looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, newborn bird poke its head out of the ashes. It was quite as ugly as the old one. **

"And the next time I saw him he was quite beautiful." Cris said.

"Phoenix's are amazing creatures." Lily J said.

**"It's a shame you had to see him on a Burning Day," said Dumbledore, seating himself behind his desk. "He's really very handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets." **

"Are you trying to give her clues?" Remus asked.

"Not intentionally, I was just giving her a small lesson." Dumbledore said.

"That turned out to be really useful in the end." Cris said.

"I'd rather not know." Lily and the marauders said.

"But we will anyway." Moony said.

**In the shock of Fawkes catching fire, Cris had forgotten what she was there for, but it all came back to her as Dumbledore settled himself in the high chair behind the desk and fixed Cris with his penetrating, light-blue stare.**

**Before Dumbledore could speak another word, however, the door of the office flew open with an almighty bang and Hagrid burst in, a wild look in his eyes, his balaclava perched on top of his shaggy black head and the dead rooster still swinging from his hand. **

"Oh Hagrid, not the most pleasant image." Padfoot said.

"At least he's there to help, although I doubt that Dumbledore will think she did it." Remus said.

"True," Sirius said.

**"It wasn' Cris, Professor Dumbledore!" said Hagrid urgently. "I was talkin' ter her seconds before that kid was found, she never had time, sir —"**

**Dumbledore tried to say something, but Hagrid went ranting on, waving the rooster around in his agitation, sending feathers everywhere. "It can't've bin her, I'll swear it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic if I have to—" **

"That's sweet of him." Lily said.

"He's still like that," Teddy said.

"I doubt he'll change." Robin said.

**"Hagrid, I —"**

**"— yeh've got the wrong kid, sir, I know Cris never —"**

**"**_**Hagrid**_**!" said Dumbledore loudly.**

**"I do not think that Cris attacked those people."**

**"Oh," said Hagrid, the rooster falling limply at his side. "Right. I'll wait outside then, Headmaster."**

**And he stomped out looking embarrassed. **

"Poor Hagrid," Lily said.

"He'll be fine, he always is." James said.

**"You don't think it was me, Professor?" Cris repeated hopefully as Dumbledore brushed rooster feathers off his desk.**

**"No, Cris, I don't," said Dumbledore, though his face was somber again. "But I still want to talk to you."**

**Cris waited nervously while Dumbledore considered her, the tips of his long fingers together. **

"Tell him the truth," Sirius said.

"But she won't," Remus said.

"She's too damn stubborn." said everyone in the room.

**"I must ask you, Cris, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me," he said gently. "Anything at all."**

**Cris didn't know what to say. She thought of Malfoy shouting, "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" and of the Polyjuice Potion simmering away in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**

**Then she thought of the disembodied voice she had heard twice and remembered what Ron had said: 'Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world.' She thought, too, about what everyone was saying about her, and her growing dread that she was somehow connected with Salazar Slytherin… **

"So there are lots of things you could have said." James said.

"Yeah," Cris said rubbing the back of her neck.

"And yet you don't." Lily said.

**"No," said Cris. "There isn't anything, Professor…"**

**The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick turned what had hither to been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry people most.**

**What could possibly do that to a ghost? People asked each other; what terrible power could harm someone who was already dead? There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.**

**"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron told Cris and Hermione. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."**

**Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays, too. But Cris was glad that most people were leaving. She was tired of people skirting around her in the corridors, as though she was about to sprout fangs or spit poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing, and hissing as she passed.**

**Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. **

"Of course they would." Mrs. Weasley scowled.

"It actually made me feel a lot better. Plus it told people how stupid it was." Cris said.

"I can see that." Sirius said.

**They went out of their way to march ahead of Cris down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil witch coming through…" **

"That made you feel better?" Lily asked.

"It made me smile and laugh. Although I never did it but I laughed on the inside." Cris said.

**Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior.**

**"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.**

**"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Cris' in a hurry."**

**"Yeah, she's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with her fanged servant," said George, chortling. **

"Okay, I can see how that made you feel better." Padfoot said.

"It was pretty funny." Cris said with a smile.

**Ginny didn't find it amusing either.**

**"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Cris loudly who she was planning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Cris off with a large clove of garlic when they met. **

"Wow, you were really making this into a great big joke." Robin said.

"It's what we do,"

"To make people laugh,"

"And you guys do a damn good job of it." Sirius said with a smile.

**Cris didn't mind; it made her feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of her being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous. But their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it. **

"Of course, I don't like the idea of antagonizing the enemy. And you two were doing just that." Draco said.

"That was pretty idiotic to do." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Probably,"

"But that is,"

"What we're good at." The twins said together.

**"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Ron knowingly. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."**

**"Not for long," said Hermione in a satisfied tone. "The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."**

**"Hey I just thought of something," Cris said suddenly. They both looked at her. **

**"What?"**

**"It can't be Malfoy or any other pureblood," **

"Why?" Padfoot asked.

"I explain, don't worry." Cris said.

"Alright, just as long as you explain, because I don't get it." James said.

**"What makes you say that?" Hermione said. **

**"Think about it if it had been a pureblood family the chamber would never be closed, they would just keep it open, it has to be a half blood, and someone who's family hasn't been at Hogwarts since well fifty years then before that Slytherin's time. They wouldn't allow a Slytherin heir in on purpose as that would mean that they would open the chamber." **

"Good spot, Cris." Remus said.

"That's my girl." Sirius said with a proud smile to his goddaughter. Cris blushed and Snape continued reading.

**Hermione gasped. "Cris your right, of course you're right," she said, pacing now.**

**"So the pureblood family of Slytherin would be home schooled like Eloise was earlier. The family want to open the chamber again – " Cris said.**

**"They have a baby with a Muggle and leave them once they know they cannot get rid of the child." Hermione finished. **

**"Then they can't trace it back to them until they want the child to open the chamber." Cris nodded, though it didn't seem completely right. However it seemed close. **

"That's very impressive," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Good work Potter." Moody said nodding his head in approval.

**"So we see if Malfoy knows who this kid is," Ron said. **

**"Yeah, that's the best plan we have," Hermione sighed. **

**At last the term ended, and a silence deep as the snow on the grounds descended on the castle. Cris found it peaceful, rather than gloomy, and enjoyed the fact that she, Hermione, and the Weasley's had the run of Gryffindor Tower, which meant they could play Exploding Snap loudly without bothering anyone, and practice dueling in private.**

**Fred, George, and Ginny had chosen to stay at school rather than visit Bill in Egypt with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. **

"I felt hurt, my younger siblings didn't want to come and visit their big brother in warm sunny Egypt." Bill said in a mock pout.

"Sorry, we didn't think you would care." Charlie said.

"You had an excuse, I'm talking to them." Bill said.

"Well yeah, they didn't come to visit me either, so I'm with you there." Charlie said in another pout.

"You'll live." The twins, Ron and Ginny said. This caused everyone to laugh.

**Percy, who disapproved of what he termed their childish behavior, didn't spend much time in the Gryffindor common room. He had already told them pompously that he was only staying over Christmas because it was his duty as a prefect to support the teachers during this troubled time. **

"Really Percy, tell us how you really feel." Sirius said.

"I won't be talked like that to by a mass murderer." Percy sneered.

"He never got a trial so shut up if you know what's good for you." Robin and Cris said. Percy went red but didn't say anything else. Padfoot looked really confuse, why didn't he get a trial.

**Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Cris and Ron, the only ones left in their dormitory, were woken very early by Hermione, who burst in, fully dressed and carrying presents for them both.**

**"Wake up," she said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.**

**"Hermione — you're not supposed to be in here —" said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light. **

"Neither is Cris, but you don't seem to mind." Lily said.

"Cris is different; she seems to fit right in with the guys." Ron said.

"Yeah, she does, it funny how masculine she can be at times." Neville said.

"Do we even want to know?" James asked.

"Not really." Ron and Neville said as they got glared at by Cris.

**"Happy Christmas to you, too," said Hermione, throwing him his present. "In case you haven't noticed there is already a girl who lives in this dorm. Anyway I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."**

**Cris sat up, suddenly wide awake.**

"That got your attention." Teddy said with a smile.

"Of course it did, we've been waiting for this for about a month." Cris said.

**"Are you sure?"**

**"Positive," said Hermione, shifting Scabbers **

The trio, Sirius, Remus, Robin, Keiran, Teddy and Lily J scowled at the mention of the rat.

**the rat so that she could sit down on the end of Ron's four-poster. "If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight."**

**At that moment, Hedwig swooped into the room, carrying a very small package in her beak.**

**"Hello," said Cris happily as she landed on her bed. "Are you speaking to me again?"**

**She nibbled her ear in an affectionate sort of way, which was a far better present than the one that she had brought her, which turned out to be from the Dursley's. They had sent Cris a toothpick and a note telling her to find out whether she'd be able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays, too. **

"I wish; I truly wish I could have." Cris said.

"We all do." Hermione said.

**The rest of Cris' Christmas presents were far more satisfactory. Hagrid had sent her a large tin of treacle fudge, which Cris decided to soften by the fire before eating; Ron had given her a book called **_**Flying with the Cannons**_**, **

A number of people in the room shook their heads at the mention of the Cannons.

**a book of interesting facts about his favorite Quidditch team, and Hermione had bought her a luxurious eagle-feather quill. **

"I still have that." Cris said.

"Good, I didn't know whether or not you still use it." Hermione said.

"I use it when I am at home for writing letters." Cris said.

**Cris opened the last present to find a new, hand-knitted sweater from Mrs. Weasley and a large plum cake. **

"Thank you Molly," Lily said.

"It's nothing, she is a part of our family and we take care of each other." Mrs. Weasley said.

"You found some really good friends Cris." James said.

"Thanks dad," Cris said with a wide smile.

**Cris read her card with a fresh surge of guilt, thinking about Mr. Weasley's car (which hadn't been seen since its crash with the Whomping Willow), and the bout of rule-breaking she and Ron were planning next. **

"Don't worry about it; it's for a good reason. Anyone would do that." Bill said.

"Everyone breaks rules everyone once in a while, though I doubt that Percy ever did." Charlie said.

"I'm not too sure about that." Remus said.

**No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.**

**The Great Hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry, from the ceiling. Dumbledore led them in a few of his favorite carols, **

"That's always fun." James said.

"It really brings the spirit out." Padfoot said.

"That's true." Cris said with a smile.

**Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed.**

**Percy, who hadn't noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read 'Pinhead,' kept asking them all what they were sniggering at.**

**Cris didn't even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remark about her new sweater from the Slytherin table. **

"I really liked it, it was nice and only the second thing I owned that actually fit me." Cris said.

"What about the clothes you wore in third year?" Remus asked.

"I learned how to sew so I fixed all the clothes I got at the Dursley's." Cris said with a shrug.

"Well that's one way to do it." Lily said.

**With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be getting his comeuppance in a few hours' time. Cris and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione ushered them out of the hall to finalize their plans for the evening. **

"You know, it didn't look too suspicious." McGonagall said.

"It just looked like you guys were heading upstairs for bed." Ginny said.

**"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she were sending them to the supermarket for laundry detergent. "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's; they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him."**

**"I've got it all worked out," she went on smoothly, ignoring Cris' and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."**

**Cris and Ron looked incredulously at each other.**

**"Hermione, I don't think —"**

**"That could go seriously wrong —"**

**But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had. **

"**Why do I have to become a guy?" Cris asked. **

"**Because Malfoy will only talk to his friends." Hermione said. **

"Makes sense." Remus said.

"You have to tell us what it was like to be a guy for an hour." Ginny said.

"Maybe some other time." Cris promised.

**"The potion will be useless without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair," she said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"**

**"Oh, all right, all right," said Cris. "But why am I Goyle? Couldn't have been Zabini or Nott? Why can't you be him? And wait! What about you? Whose hair are you ripping out?" **

"I can see your point. Goyle isn't a very pleasant person." Fred said.

"He wasn't very fun to be either." Cris said.

"I can imagine." Cris said.

"**Because Malfoy is always around Crabbe and Goyle. He'll tell them anything. "I've already got mine!" said Hermione brightly, pulling a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing them the single hair inside it. "Remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me at the Dueling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me! And she's gone home for Christmas — so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back. And Cris, Crabbe and Goyle are his friends and if one of us is going to play a boy better it's going to be you." Cris wasn't sure whether or not to be highly offended or not before she could decide Hermione had bustled off to check on the Polyjuice Potion again, Ron turned to Cris with a doom-laden expression.**

**"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?" **

"Yes, but I won't go into detail right now." Cris said.

"Third year." Hermione said to the others.

**But to Cris' and Ron's utter amazement, stage one of the operation went just as smoothly as Hermione had said.**

"But of course, Crabbe and Goyle are dense like that, whatever you did." Draco said.

"And I thought they were your friends." George said.

"No not really, my father just told them to hang around me." Draco said.

"Well that sucks." Fred said.

"No kidding," Draco said.

**They lurked in the deserted entrance hall after Christmas tea, waiting for Crabbe and Goyle who had remained alone at the Slytherin table, shoveling down fourth helpings of trifle. Cris had perched the chocolate cakes on the end of the banisters. When they spotted Crabbe and Goyle coming out of the Great Hall, Cris and Ron hid quickly behind a suit of armor next to the front door. **

**"How thick can you get?" Ron whispered ecstatically as Crabbe gleefully pointed out the cakes to Goyle and grabbed them. Grinning stupidly, they stuffed the cakes whole into their large mouths. **

"Wow, they really are stupid." Tonks said.

"No kidding, they could have seriously been hurt if there was something other than sleeping draught in it." Lily said.

**For a moment, both of them chewed greedily, looks of triumph on their faces. Then, without the smallest change of expression, they both keeled over backward onto the floor. **

"That was a funny sight to watch." Ron said.

"Yeah, it was but the part after that was a bitch." Cris said.

"Cristal!" Lily and Mrs. Weasley said.

"What, it was true. It was like lifting my cousin after the dementors this summer." Cris said.

"What dementors?" the past marauders asked.

"Later," said half the room.

**By far the hardest part was hiding them in the closet across the hall. Once they were safely stowed among the buckets and mops, Cris yanked out a couple of the bristles that covered Goyle's forehead and Ron pulled out several of Crabbe's hairs. They also stole their shoes, because their own were far too small for Crabbe - and Goyle-size feet. **

"Mine still are. I don't know about Ron's though, they look like clowns feet." Cris said. Hermione, Lily, Lily J, Keiran, Teddy, Robin and both Remus' stifled their laughter and Snape continued with a light smile on their face.

**Then, still stunned at what they had just done, they sprinted up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**

**They could hardly see for the thick black smoke issuing from the stall in which Hermione was stirring the cauldron. Pulling their robes up over their faces, Cris and Ron knocked softly on the door.**

**"Hermione?"**

**They heard the scrape of the lock and Hermione emerged, shiny-faced and looking anxious. Behind her they heard the gloop gloop of the bubbling, glutinous potion. Three glass tumblers stood ready on the toilet seat.**

**"Did you get them?" Hermione asked breathlessly.**

**Cris showed her Goyle's hair.**

**"Good. And I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry," Hermione said, holding up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle." **

"Just a little bit." Cris said.

"You guys are prepared, but one question. Did you find the Slytherin Common Rooms?" Remus asked.

"That was one thing we forgot." Ron said.

"That could be a problem." Sirius said.

"Not unless they follow some Slytherin to the common room." Padfoot said.

"Wow, who knew you could be smart." Moony said.

"Hey, I can be smart when I want to be." Padfoot said.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." James said.

**The three of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, the potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.**

**"I'm sure I've done everything right," said Hermione, nervously rereading the splotched page of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should… once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves." **

"I still don't know how I didn't catch on that it was you two." Draco said.

"We were just that good." Cris said with a grin.

**"Now what?" Ron whispered.**

**"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs."**

**Hermione ladled large dollops of the potion into each of the glasses. Then, her hand trembling, she shook Millicent Bulstrode's hair out of its bottle into the first glass.**

**The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and frothed madly. A second later, it had turned a sick sort of yellow. **

"That's not right," Bill said.

"Did you end up in the hospital wing after this?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Hermione said with a blush.

**"Urgh — essence of Millicent Bulstrode," said Ron, eyeing it with loathing. "Bet it tastes disgusting."**

**"Add yours, then," said Hermione.**

**Cris dropped Goyle's hair into the middle glass and Ron put Crabbe's into the last one. Both glasses hissed and frothed: Goyle's turned the khaki color of a booger; Crabbe's a dark, murky brown.**

**"Hang on," said Cris as Ron and Hermione reached for their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here… Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won't fit. And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie." **

"That's true, you would all be squished." George said.

"We weren't, although I was uncomfortable the entire time." Cris said with a grimace.

"I can imagine." Lily said.

**"Good thinking," said Ron, unlocking the door. "We'll take separate stalls."**

**Careful not to spill a drop of her Polyjuice Potion, Cris slipped into the middle stall.**

**"Ready?" she called.**

**"Ready," came Ron's and Hermione's voices.**

**"One — two — three —"**

**Pinching her nose, Cris drank the potion down in two large gulps. It tasted like overcooked cabbage. **

"Ugh," everyone said.

"I don't feel sorry for you." Sirius said.

**Immediately, her insides started writhing as though she'd just swallowed live snakes — doubled up, she wondered whether she was going to be sick — then a burning sensation spread rapidly from her stomach to the very ends of her fingers and toes — next, bringing her gasping to all fours, came a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over her body bubbled like hot wax — and before her eyes, her hands began to grow, the fingers thickened, the nails broadened, the knuckles were bulging like bolts — her shoulders stretched painfully and a prickling on her forehead told her that Goyle's hair was creeping down toward her eyebrows — her robes ripped as her chest expanded like a barrel bursting its hoops — her feet were agony in shoes six sizes too small — **

"That is uncomfortable." Moony said.

"No kidding, Sirius said.

**As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Cris lay face down on the stone-cold floor, listening to Myrtle gurgling morosely in the end toilet. With difficulty, she kicked off her shoes and stood up. So this was what it felt like, being Goyle.**

**Her large hand trembling, she pulled off her old robes, which were hanging over a foot above her ankles. She noticed a bulge. **

"That was just gross beyond reason." Cris said.

"You didn't have to touch it or see it right?" James asked.

"No, I was lucky enough to be able to get through the hour without touching it or seeing it." Cris said.

"Good, that would have been bad; your eyesight would be ruined for good." Padfoot said.

**"Ew," she muttered, very careful not to touch it she pulled on the spare robes, and laced up Goyle's boat like shoes. She reached up to brush her hair out of her eyes and met only the short growth of wiry bristles, low on her forehead. Then she realized that her glasses were clouding her eyes because Goyle obviously didn't need them — she took them off and called, "Are you two okay?" Goyle's low rasp of a voice issued from her mouth. **

**"Yeah," came the deep grunt of Crabbe from her right.**

**Cris unlocked her door and stepped in front of the cracked mirror, trying to ignore the weird feeling of the weight between her legs. **

"If that's what it's like, I'm glad that I am not a guy." Ginny said.

"Me too," the rest of the girls said.

**Goyle stared back at her out of dull, deep-set eyes. Cris scratched her ear. So did Goyle.**

**Ron's door opened. They stared at each other. Except that he looked pale and shocked, Ron was indistinguishable from Crabbe, from the pudding-bowl haircut to the long, gorilla arms.**

**"This is unbelievable," said Ron, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."**

**"We'd better get going," said Cris, loosening the watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow…"**

**Ron, who had been gazing at Cris, said, "You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking."**

**She banged on Hermione's door. "C'mon, we need to go —"**

**A high-pitched voice answered him.**

**"I — I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me."**

**"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you Cris' Goyle and she's a girl so –"**

**"Yeah I can feel his… you know, it's awful and gross," she said pulling her legs further apart so they weren't touching it. **

"I would too." Lily and Lily J said.

"I think any girl would." Hermione said.

**"No — really — I don't think I'll come. You two hurry up, you're wasting time —"**

**Cris looked at Ron, bewildered.**

**"That looks more like Goyle," said Ron. **

Everyone chuckled at that.

**"That's how he looks every time a teacher asks him a question." **

"That certainly is true," McGonagall said.

"I find amazing that three first years did this without anyone knowing until now." Charlie said.

"Like we said, you would be surprised what can be kept from everyone at Hogwarts." Cris said.

**"Hermione, are you okay?" said Cris through the door.**

**"Fine — I'm fine — go on —"**

**Cris looked at her watch. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed.**

**"We'll meet you back here, all right?" she said.**

**Cris and Ron opened the door of the bathroom carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set off.**

**"Don't swing your arms like that," Cris muttered to Ron.**

**"Eh?"**

**"Crabbe holds them sort of stiff…"**

**"How's this?"**

**"Yeah, that's better…"**

**"Why are you walking like that?" Ron asked her. **

**"How can you not walk like this?" she retorted. **

**"What, oh," he said his face red. "You've got…" **

"I still don't get it." Cris said.

"Don't try to." Hermione said.

"Alright, I won't, it just bothers me, and it's confusing." Cris said.

"How about this, they're used to it; we're not so there stop trying to figure it out." Lily J said.

**"It's so weird," she said. **

**"Try and walk like Goyle," he said, she tried. Ew, she thought. **

**They went down the marble staircase. All they needed now was a Slytherin that they could follow to the Slytherin common room, but there was nobody around.**

**"Any ideas?" muttered Cris.**

**"The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from over there," said Ron, nodding at the entrance to the dungeons. The words had barely left his mouth when a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance. **

"Check to see if she has the Slytherin robes first before you ask." Lily said.

"We should have." Cris muttered. But nobody noticed that Percy was blushing at the moment.

**"Excuse me," said Ron, hurrying up to her. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."**

**"I beg your pardon?" said the girl stiffly. "Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw."**

**She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them.**

**Cris and Ron hurried down the stone steps into the darkness, their footsteps echoing particularly loudly as Crabbe's and Goyle's huge feet hit the floor, feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped.**

**The labyrinthine passages were deserted. They walked deeper and deeper under the school, constantly checking their watches to see how much time they had left. After a quarter of an hour, just when they were getting desperate, they heard a sudden movement ahead.**

**"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"**

"Was it?" Sirius asked.

"No, just someone unexpected." Ron said.

"So who?" Padfoot asked.

**The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy.**

**"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise.**

**Percy looked affronted.**

**"That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"**

**"Wh — oh, yeah," said Ron.**

**"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days.'"**

**"You are," Ron pointed out. **

"Why were you down there Perce?" Bill asked.

"He was with that girl." Charlie said.

"There is no way he was." Bill said.

"He was," the twins, Ron and Ginny said.

"I walked in on them." Ginny said.

"You burned our innocent little sister's eyes!" Bill, Charlie and the twins shouted. The others laughed and Snape continued.

**"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."**

**A voice suddenly echoed behind Cris and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them, and for the first time in her life, Cris was pleased to see him. **

"Didn't know you feel that way about me, Potter." Draco said.

"Never in your wildest dreams. I prefer red heads, with blue eyes and that play as beaters." Cris said kissing both of the twins.

**"There you are," he drawled, looking at them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny."**

**Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy.**

**"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered.**

**Percy looked outraged. **

**"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!'"**

**Malfoy sneered and motioned for Cris and Ron to follow him. Cris almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught herself just in time.**

"You always try to be nice." Sirius said.

"It's good to be nice. However if all else fails I will resort to something else." Cris said.

"At least you try to be nice at first." Lily said.

**She and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley — **

"Don't do something stupid." Bill said.

"This is Ron we're talking about." Charlie whispered to his brother.

"You're right, that is a little much to ask from our youngest brother." Bill whispered back.

**"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically.**

**"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed." **

"Nope, just snogging a girl in secret." George snickered.

"Are you sure it was just snogging?" Fred asked.

"We may never be sure." George said.

"Your brother would never do that in school!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Molly dear, not that I don't agree with you, but we don't know for sure what all the children are doing outside the house." Mr. Weasley said.

That quieted Mrs. Weasley looked shocked then eyed all seven of her children as if to spot something off about their normal appearance.

**He gave a short, derisive laugh. Cris and Ron exchanged excited looks.**

**Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.**

**"What's the new password again?" he said to Cris.**

**"Er —" said Cris.**

**"Oh, yeah — pure-blood!" said Malfoy, not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through it, and Cris and Ron followed him.**

**The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs. **

"I prefer our common room better." Ron said.

"Yeah, it's warm and inviting; unlike the Slytherin's." Cris said.

**"'Wait here," said Malfoy to Cris and Ron, motioning them to a pair of empty chairs set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me —"**

**Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, Cris and Ron sat down, doing their best to look at home. **

"It was freezing down there. How can you stand it?" Cris asked.

"I'm used to it." Draco said with a shrug.

**Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron's nose.**

**"That'll give you a laugh," he said.**

**Cris saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and handed it to Cris.**

**It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it said: INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

**Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car.**

**Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation. 'Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute,' Mr. Malfoy told our reporter.**

**"He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately." **

"Oh come on, everyone has their faults. It certainly wasn't his fault that Cris and Ron decided to take the care to school rather than wait for someone." Robin said.

"We weren't thinking." Ron said.

"It really made me feel guilty." Cris said.

**Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them. **

"Go mum!" shouted the kids. Mrs. Weasley blushed a bit before Snape continued reading.

**"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently as Cris handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"**

**"Ha, ha," said Cris bleakly.**

**"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully.**

**"You'd never know the Weasley's were pure-bloods, the way they behave." **

"Really, cause I can see it." Hermione said.

"They are loving and caring and kind. I can see how you think that isn't pure-blood, but it is a good qualities for people to have." Cris said.

"They really are; there aren't many people in the world let alone families that are like that." Lily said.

**Ron's — or rather, Crabbe's — face was contorted with fury.**

**"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.**

**"Stomach ache," Ron grunted.**

**"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering.**

**"You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."**

**Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel but accurate impression of Colin:**

**"'Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"'**

**He dropped his hands and looked at Cris and Ron.**

**"What's the matter with you two?"**

**Far too late, Cris and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake. **

"They are; I still don't know how you were able to fool me." Draco said.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Cris said with a smile.

**"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "She's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or she wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think she's Slytherin's heir!"**

**Cris and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him — but then — **

**"I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I could help them."**

**Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Cris, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all…"**

**"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing — last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time… I hope it's Granger," **

"MR. MALFOY! You don't talk like that about another student!" McGonagall scolded the blonde Slytherin.

Many other insults were thrown at him until Dumbledore called for silence and Snape continued reading.

**he said with relish. Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists. Feeling that it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron punched Malfoy, Cris shot him a warning look and said, **

**"D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"**

**"Oh, yeah… whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."**

**"Azkaban?" said Cris, puzzled.**

**"Azkaban — the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward." **

"How could I have been so stupid?" Draco muttered to himself.

**He shifted restlessly in his chair and said, "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?"**

**Cris tried to force Goyle's dull face into a look of concern.**

**"Yeah…" said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor —" **

"So that's how you found out." Mr. Weasley said.

"Well, that's some good use." Sirius said.

"Father's expression was priceless." Draco said.

**"Ho!" said Ron.**

**Malfoy looked at him. So did Cris. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nose was also slowly lengthening — their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving Cris, she must be, too.**

**They both jumped to their feet.**

**"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted, and without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything. **

"I did, I just didn't know what." Draco said.

"Now you do, so what do you think?" Cris asked.

"I think it's brilliant how you pay attention to the littlest things." Draco said.

"Why thank you, I think." Cris said.

**Cris could feel her feet slipping around in Goyle's huge shoes and had to hoist up her robes as she shrank; they crashed up the steps into the dark entrance hall, which was full of a muffled pounding coming from the closet where they'd locked Crabbe and Goyle. Leaving their shoes outside the closet door, they sprinted in their socks up the marble staircase toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**

**"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron panted, closing the bathroom door behind them. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoy's drawing room." **

"Lucius' face was priceless when we found it." Mr. Weasley said.

"I would have loved to see his face." Sirius said.

"It was very memorable." Mr. Weasley said.

**Cris checked her face in the cracked mirror. She was back to normal. She put her glasses on as Ron hammered on the door of Hermione's stall.**

**"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you —"**

**"Go away!" Hermione squeaked.**

**Cris and Ron looked at each other.**

**"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are —"**

**But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. Cris had never seen her looking so happy.**

"It must be bad for Myrtle to be happy about it." Lily said.

"It's definitely something I wouldn't advice." Hermione said.

"I can imagine." Tonks said.

**"Ooooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful —"**

**They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head.**

**"What's up?" said Ron uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"**

**Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink.**

**Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair.**

**"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"**

**"Uh-oh," said Ron.**

**"You'll be teased something dreadful," said Myrtle happily.**

**"It's okay, Hermione," said Cris quickly. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions…" **

"At least that's something." James said.

"And you guys didn't get caught." Padfoot said.

"It's not something we will do again though." Hermione said.

"I don't know; I have a feeling that we will have plenty more adventures with Polyjuice Potion." Ron said. Cris looked over at Hermione and nodded at each other before Hermione wrote it down.

**It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty guffaw. "Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!" **

"That's the chapter." Snape said closing the book. He handed the book to Tonks who opened it and started the next chapter.


	16. Chapter 13: The Very Secret Diary

"**Chapter 13: The Very Secret Diary," **Tonks read.

"What's that about?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe Ron found Cris' diary." Padfoot said.

"I don't have a diary, it's a journal and it's hidden." Cris said.

"It's not very well hidden." Ron said.

"What?!" Cris asked glaring at him.

"Seamus found it, though he couldn't open it." Neville said.

"Good, it's password protected." Cris said.

**Hermione remained in the hospital wing for several weeks. **

"I missed so much this year." Hermione said.

"It wasn't exactly your fault." Cris said.

"Exactly, so don't worry about it." Ron said.

**There was a flurry of rumor about her disappearance when the rest of the school arrived back from their Christmas holidays, because of course everyone thought that she had been attacked.**

**So many students filed past the hospital wing trying to catch a glimpse of her that Madam Pomfrey took out her curtains again and placed them around Hermione's bed, to spare her the shame of being seen with a furry face.**

**Cris and Ron went to visit her every evening. When the new term started, they brought her each day's homework.**

**"If I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work," said Ron, tipping a stack of books onto Hermione's bedside table one evening.**

**"Don't be silly, Ron, I've got to keep up," said Hermione briskly. **

"It's probably a good thing too." Hermione said.

"I really don't want to know." Lily said. Ron gripped Hermione's hand in comfort as Tonks continued reading.

**Her spirits were greatly improved by the fact that all the hair had gone from her face and her eyes were turning slowly back to brown. 'I don't suppose you've got any new leads?' she added in a whisper, so that Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear her.**

**"Nothing," said Ron gloomily.**

**"What's that?" asked Cris, pointing to something gold sticking out from under Hermione's pillow. **

Hermione groaned, why couldn't this be left out?, she thought to herself.

"What is it?" Padfoot asked.

"Nothing," Hermione said with a blush.

**"Just a get well card," said Hermione hastily, trying to poke it out of sight, but Ron was too quick for her. He pulled it out, flicked it open, and read aloud:**

_**"To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."**_

"Are you kidding me?" Padfoot asked laughing.

"No, she really had that under her pillow." Cris said with a smile.

"Shut it," Hermione said.

**Ron looked up at Hermione, disgusted.**

**"You sleep with this under your **_**pillow**_**?"**

**But Hermione was spared answering by Madam Pomfrey sweeping over with her evening dose of medicine.**

**"Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you've ever met, or what?" Ron said to Cris as they left the infirmary and started up the stairs toward Gryffindor Tower.**

**Snape had given them so much homework, she decided to go and do it.**

**Ron was just saying he wished he had asked Hermione how many rat tails you were supposed to add to a Hair Raising Potion when an angry outburst from the floor above reached their ears.**

**"That's Filch," Cris muttered as they hurried up the stairs and paused, out of sight, listening hard.**

**"You don't think someone else's been attacked?" said Ron tensely.**

"I hope not," Robin said.

"There wasn't." Ginny said.

**They stood still, their heads inclined toward Flich's voice, which sounded quite hysterical.**

_**"—even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I haven't got enough to do! No, this is the final straw; I'm going to Dumbledore —" **_

"Myrtle," everyone said.

"What's going on?" James asked.

**His footsteps receded along the out-of-sight corridor and they heard a distant door slam.**

**They poked their heads around the corner. Filch had clearly been manning his usual lookout post: They were once again on the spot where Mrs. Norris had been attacked. They saw at a glance what Filch had been shouting about. A great flood of water stretched over half the corridor, and it looked as though it was still seeping from under the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**

**Now that Filch had stopped shouting, they could hear Myrtle's wails echoing off the bathroom walls.**

**"Now what's up with her?" said Ron. **

"Wrong question, you should ask what isn't wrong with her." Padfoot said.

"She's actually really nice once you talk to her." Cris said.

"Why would you say that?" Sirius asked.

"You'll find out later." Cris said.

**"Let's go and see," said Cris, and holding their robes over their ankles they stepped through the great wash of water to the door bearing it's OUT OF ORDER sign, ignored it as always, and entered.**

**Moaning Myrtle was crying, if possible, louder and harder than ever before.**

**She seemed to be hiding down her usual toilet. It was dark in the bathroom because the candles had been extinguished in the great rush of water that had left both walls and floor soaking wet.**

**"What's up, Myrtle?" said Cris. **

"Good, be nice to her." Lily said.

"It's works to get information out of her." Lily J said.

"Do we want to know?" Cris asked. Lily J looked over at Teddy and they both looked over at the rest of them.

"No," they said.

**"Who's that?" glugged Myrtle miserably. "Come to throw something else at me?"**

**Cris waded across to her stall and said, "Why would I throw something at you?"**

**"Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted, emerging with a wave of yet more water, which splashed onto the already sopping floor. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me…"**

**"But it can't hurt you if someone throws something at you," said Cris, reasonably. "I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?"**

**She had said the wrong thing.**

**Myrtle puffed herself up and shrieked, "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach!" she said putting her arm in Cris' stomach making her feel the ice shower feeling only in her stomach. "Fifty points if it goes through her head!" she punched through Cris' head. **

"You shouldn't have said that." Tonks said with a grimace.

"I know, I didn't exactly realize how sensitive she could be." Cris said.

"She can be a little oversensitive." Lily said.

**"Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I don't think!" **

"Well people should be a little more sensitive to her feelings." Robin said.

"Tell that to my brothers." Lily J said.

"James and Remus can be a handful together." Keiran said.

"That's what you get for naming them after marauders." Teddy said.

"So what are their middle names?" James asked.

"Well James' middle name is Sirius and Remus' is Wade." Lily J said.

"Well then where's Peter's namesake?" Padfoot asked.

"I would never name my child Peter." Cris said with a snarl.

"What's wrong with Peter?" James asked.

"You'll understand at the end of the third book." Remus said.

**"Who threw it at you, anyway?" asked Cris.**

**"I don't know… I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, **

"Well that's healthy," Fred said.

"Very healthy." George said.

**and it fell right through the top of my head," said Myrtle, glaring at them. "It's over there, it got washed out…"**

**Cris and Ron looked under the sink where Myrtle was pointing. A small, thin book lay there. It had a shabby black cover and was as wet as everything else in the bathroom. Cris stepped forward to pick it up, but Ron suddenly flung out an arm to hold her back.**

"Don't you dare pick it up." Remus said.

"Sorry, I didn't exactly grow up thinking that books could be dangerous." Cris said.

"You should have," James mumbled.

"It'll be okay, remember we were sent here to change all this." Lily whispered to James.

**"What?" said Cris.**

**"Are you crazy?" said Ron. "It could be dangerous."**

**"Dangerous?" said Cris, laughing. "Come off it, how could it be dangerous?"**

**"You'd be surprised," said Ron, who was looking apprehensively at the book. "Some of the books the Ministry's confiscated Dad's told me — there was one that burned your eyes out. And everyone who read Sonnets of a Sorcerer spoke in limericks for the rest of their lives. And some old witch in Bath had a book that you could never stop reading! You just had to wander around with your nose in it, trying to do everything one-handed. And —" **

"So you do listen." Mr. Weasley said.

"Why would we?" Bill asked.

"Well I never know for one thing." Mr. Weasley said with a smile to his oldest son.

**"All right, I've got the point," said Cris.**

**The little book lay on the floor, nondescript and soggy.**

**"Well, we won't find out unless we look at it," she said, and she ducked around Ron and picked it up off the floor. **

Remus reached over and slapped her lightly upside the head. Cris grabbed her head and looked over at him.

"You don't pick something strange off the ground." Remus said.

"Sorry Remus," Cris said.

**Cris saw at once that it was a diary, and the faded year on the cover told her it was fifty years old. She opened it eagerly. On the first page she could just make out the name T. M. Riddle in smudged ink.**

**"Hang on," said Ron, who had approached cautiously and was looking over Cris' shoulder. "I know that name… T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago."**

**"How on earth d'you know that?" said Cris in amazement.**

**"Because Filch made me polish his shield about fifty times in detention," said Ron resentfully. "That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you'd wiped slime off a name for an hour, you'd remember it, too."**

**Cris peeled the wet pages apart. They were completely blank. There wasn't the faintest trace of writing on any of them, not even **_**Auntie Mabel's birthday**_**, or **_**dentist, half-past three**_**. **

"Auntie Mabel?" Padfoot asked.

"I don't know; it was the first name I could come up with." Cris said.

"I don't know; that is a good name for an aunt." Lily said.

**"He never wrote in it," said Cris, disappointed.**

"Yes he did," Cris and Ginny said.

"What do you mean? Invisible ink?" Moony asked.

"I wish," Cris said.

**"I wonder why someone wanted to flush it away?" said Ron curiously.**

**Cris turned to the back cover of the book and saw the printed name of a variety store on Vauxhall Road, London.**

**"He must've been Muggle-born," said Cris thoughtfully. "To have bought a diary from Vauxhall Road…" **

"Or a half blood raised by muggles." Lily said. Cris looked down; she was like Voldemort in that aspect.

**"Well, it's not much use to you," said Ron. He dropped his voice. "Fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose."**

Some of the boys chuckled a bit but Cris and Hermione slapped Ron upside the head.

**Cris, however, pocketed it.**

**Hermione left the hospital wing, de-whiskered, tail-less, and fur free, at the beginning of February.**

**On her first evening back in Gryffindor Tower, Cris showed her T. M. Riddle's diary and told her the story of how they had found it.**

**"Oooh, it might have hidden powers," said Hermione enthusiastically, taking the diary and looking at it closely. **

"Hidden powers alright," Cris muttered.

"What did you find?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing good," Hermione said.

**"If it has, it's hiding them very well," said Ron. "Maybe it's shy. I don't know why you don't chuck it, Cris." **

"I should have." Cris said.

"The say hindsight is twenty-twenty." Hermione said.

"What," asked the purebloods in the room.

"It's a Muggle saying." Cris said.

**"I wish I knew why someone did try to chuck it," said Cris. "I wouldn't mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts either." **

"I think you are way to bloody curious for your own good." Sirius said.

"She's too much like her father on that front." Remus said.

"Hey," Cris and James cried. Everyone in the room chuckled at that.

**"Could've been anything," said Ron. "Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would've done everyone a favor…" **

"Ron," Cris and Hermione said.

"I know, I know." Ron said.

**But Cris could tell from the arrested look on Hermione's face that she was thinking what she was thinking.**

**"What?" said Ron, looking from one to the other.**

**"Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it?" he said. "That's what Malfoy said." **

"You guys work out the littlest things." Robin said.

"I don't know whether that is a good or a bad thing." Remus said.

"I say it's a little of both." Sirius said.

**"Yeah…" said Ron slowly.**

**"And this diary is fifty years old," said Hermione, tapping it excitedly.**

**"So?"**

**"Oh, Ron, wake up," snapped Hermione. "We know the person who opened the Chamber last time was expelled fifty years ago. We know T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago. Well, what if Riddle got his special award for catching the Heir of Slytherin? His diary would probably tell us everything — where the Chamber is, and how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in it — the person who's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want that lying around, would they?"**

**"That's a brilliant theory, Hermione," said Ron, "with just one tiny little flaw. There's nothing written in his diary."**

**But Hermione was pulling her wand out of her bag.**

**"It might be invisible ink!" she whispered, but Cris knew that wasn't true she had already tried "Aparecium!" nothing happened.**

"You could have told me." Hermione said.

"Sorry, I figured that you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it for yourself." Cris said.

"Hmm, you know me well." Hermione said.

**She tapped the diary three times and said, "**_**Aparecium**_**!"**

**Nothing happened. Undaunted, Hermione shoved her hand back into her bag and pulled out what appeared to be a bright red eraser.**

**"It's a Revealer, I got it in Diagon Alley," she said.**

**She rubbed hard on January first. Nothing happened.**

**"I'm telling you, there's nothing to find in there," said Ron. "Riddle just got a diary for Christmas and couldn't be bothered filling it in."**

**Cris couldn't explain, even to herself, why she didn't just throw Riddle's diary away. The fact was that even though she knew the diary was blank, she kept absentmindedly picking it up and turning the pages, as though it were a story she wanted to finish. And while Cris was sure she had never heard the name T. M. Riddle before, it still seemed to mean something to her, almost as though Riddle was a friend she'd had when she was very small, and had half-forgotten. **

"I don't know a Riddle," James said.

"Actually, we all do." Cris said.

"What?" everyone asked.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**But this was absurd. She'd never had friends before Hogwarts; Dudley had made sure of that. **

"That's just messed up." Lily said.

"There was one girl that hung out with me whenever I left the house and went down to the free Gymnastics gym with." Cris said.

"Who was it?" Hermione said.

"Her name is Gwen Moore; she's really shy but really sweet." Cris said.

"Gwen's awesome, she married a wizard." Lily J said.

"Who?" Cris asked.

"Viktor Krum, you introduced the two at your wedding." Teddy said.

"They would be perfect for each other." Hermione said.

"Who's Viktor Krum?" James asked.

"A Bulgarian seeker." Cris said.

"How do you know him?" Padfoot asked.

"Fourth year, but that is all we are going to say." Hermione said.

**Nevertheless, Cris was determined to find out more about Riddle, so next day at break, she headed for the trophy room to examine Riddle's special award, accompanied by an interested Hermione and a thoroughly unconvinced Ron, **

"Well yeah, I cleaned the bloody thing like fifty times; there isn't anything interesting about it." Ron said.

"Poor Ron, getting dragged along by two girls." Sirius said.

"They're not just regular girls." Ron said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cris and Hermione asked.

"That you're not like normal girls, that, um, you don't talk about make-up and boys when we hang out." Ron said going red.

"Oh, but we do." Hermione said.

"We just talk about it with the other girls we like." Cris said.

"In fact I was the first to see Cris' tattoo," Hermione said than covered her mouth.

"What tattoo?" everyone asked.

"I got it this summer, I was able to sneak out with Gwen and she went with me." Cris said. She took off the long sleeved shirt she had on so now she was only wearing the tank top. She turned and moved her hair to show the group the portrait of the black stag head with hazel eyes, white lilies were dangling from the antlers and a red lily with an emerald stem was hanging from its mouth.

"It's for mum and dad." Cris said.

"It's beautiful Cris," Lily said hugging her daughter again.

"How did you get it anyway? Don't you have to be sixteen to get one?" Robin asked.

"I told them I was emancipated. Basically I am, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia don't care about me, and I got it before you guys came and got me." Cris said.

**who told them he'd seen enough of the trophy room to last him a lifetime. **

"That's true," Ron said.

"Anyone would, after cleaning them." Padfoot said.

**Riddle's burnished gold shield was tucked away in a corner cabinet. It didn't carry details of why it had been given to him ("Good thing, too, or it'd be even bigger and I'd still be polishing it," said Ron).**

**However, they did find Riddle's name on an old Medal for Magical Merit, and on a list of old Head Boys.**

"You really should take his name off that list." Cris said.

"I agree but I cannot." Dumbledore said.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"Because he's a murderous, prejudice psychopath." Cris said.

"Alright then, tell us how you really feel." Padfoot said.

"If you knew the truth then you would feel that way too." Cris pointed out.

**"He sounds like Percy," said Ron, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Prefect, Head Boy… probably top of every class —"**

**"You say that like it's a bad thing," said Hermione in a slightly hurt voice.**

**The sun had now begun to shine weakly on Hogwarts again. Inside the castle, the mood had grown more hopeful. There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood.**

"Good, they will be revived soon." Lily said.

"Let's just hope no one else is petrified." James said.

"I have a feeling that won't happen." Remus said.

"Don't say that," Lily said.

**"The moment their acne clears up, they'll be ready for re-potting again," Cris heard her telling Filch kindly one afternoon. "And after that, it won't be long until we're cutting them up and stewing them. You'll have Mrs. Norris back in no time."**

**Perhaps the Heir of Slytherin had lost his or her nerve, thought Cris. It must be getting riskier and riskier to open the Chamber of Secrets, with the school so alert and suspicious. Perhaps the monster, whatever it was, was even now settling itself down to hibernate for another fifty years… **

"No, the key was in different hands." Cris said.

"What does that mean?" Tonks asked.

"You'll see." Cris said. Cris saw that Ginny was pale again and Neville was comforting her from this ordeal.

**Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff didn't take this cheerful view. He was still convinced that Cris was the guilty one, that she had 'given herself away' at the Dueling Club. **

"He's a jerk, don't listen to him." Robin said.

"I didn't, though I did upset me for a while." Cris said.

"It would upset anyone." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Peeves wasn't helping matters; he kept popping up in the crowded corridors singing 'Oh, Potter, you rotter…' now with a dance routine to match. **

"Don't you dare say anything." Cris growled at the twins. They nodded quickly and wide eyed before Tonks continued with a big smile on her face.

**Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop.**

"Of course he did," Bill sneered.

"I think he's always been like that." James said.

"You know, that doesn't surprise me one bit." Cris said.

**Cris overheard him telling Professor McGonagall so while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration. "I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him.**

"Someone shut this idiot up please?" Padfoot asked.

"He does, don't worry about it." Ron said.

"Good when?" Moony asked.

"Not soon enough." Cris said.

"Great, more idiocy." Remus said rubbing his head.

**You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing…"**

**He tapped his nose again and strode off.**

**Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. **

"God, what did he do?" Robin asked.

"Something I've been trying to erase from my memory since it happened." Draco said.

"God, if that is what Malfoy says then it's got to be bad." Bill said.

**Cris hadn't had much sleep because of a late-running Quidditch practice the night before, and she hurried down to the Great Hall, slightly late. She thought, for a moment, that she'd walked through the wrong doors. **

"This is part of the reason I despise the color pink." Cris said.

"Oh great, after this obliviate that part of my memory Prongs." Padfoot said.

"I'm not that good at memory charms." James said.

"Damn, I feel really sorry for all this kids." Padfoot said.

**The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Cris went over to the Gryffindor table, where Ron was sitting looking sickened, and Hermione seemed to have been overcome with giggles.**

**"What's going on?" Cris asked them, sitting down and wiping confetti off her mushrooms. She thought it was rather pretty, **

"You said you hated it." James said.

"I did at first, but the sight of Lockhart in pink really turned it off." Cris said.

"Yeah, I can see that." Sirius said.

**but it was a little much if it was going on their food.**

**Ron pointed to the teachers' table, apparently too disgusted to speak.**

**Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. From where she sat, Cris could see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro. **

"I'd rather take the Skele-Gro then see anything like that ever again." Snape said.

"You know, I agree with Snape." Padfoot said with a confused expression.

"Don't go over to the dark side Pads." James exclaimed while everyone chuckled before Tonks could continue reading.

**"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn't end here!"**

**Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.**

**"My friendly,**

"I highly doubt they were friendly." Remus said.

"They weren't," said the present kids.

**card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart.**

**"They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!" **

"Did anyone ask you?" Keiran asked.

"No, I wouldn't do it even if they asked." Snape said.

"What about Flitwick?" Lily asked.

"I think about one or two people asked. But he didn't do it." McGonagall said.

"Ah, what a spoil sport." James said.

"That would have been so much fun." Padfoot said.

"No, it would have been chaos." Mrs. Weasley said.

"But that would be better than what has been happening." Moony said.

"So that's why you create so many pranks." Lily said.

"Yep," the three marauders said.

**Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands.**

**Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison. **

"I was very tempted to if anyone asked but I would never intentionally hurt a student." Snape said.

"That's good to hear." Sirius said.

**"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," said Ron as they left the Great Hall for their first lesson. Hermione suddenly became very interested in searching her bag for her schedule and didn't answer. **

"You did," Sirius said with a big smile.

"Leave her alone Siri." Cris said. Seeing the look in Cris' eyes he shut up and Tonks continued though rather difficult as she was trying to stifle her laughter.

**All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the teachers, and late that afternoon as the Gryffindors were walking upstairs for Charms, one of the dwarfs caught up with Cris. **

"Run for your life!" James cried out.

"I tried." Cris said with a pout.

"And these two loved the lyrics." Ron said pointing at the twins with a smile.

"This should be good then." Sirius said.

**"Oy, you! Cristal Potter!" shouted a particularly grim-looking dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to get to Cris.**

**Hot all over at the thought of being given a valentine in front of a line of first years, which happened to include Ginny Weasley, Cris tried to escape. The dwarf, however, cut his way through the crowd by kicking people's shins, and reached her before she'd gone two paces.**

**"I've got a musical message to deliver to Cristal Potter in person," he said, twanging his harp in a threatening sort of way.**

**"Not here," Cris hissed, trying to escape.**

**"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, grabbing hold of Cris' bag and pulling her back.**

**"Let me go!" Cris snarled, tugging.**

**With a loud ripping noise, her bag split in two. Her books, wand, parchment, and quill spilled onto the floor and her ink bottle smashed over everything.**

**Cris scrambled around, trying to pick it all up before the dwarf started singing, causing something of a holdup in the corridor.**

**"What's going on here?" came the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. **

"And here's your luck running true to form." Moony said.

"No kidding, it was embarrassing enough." Cris said.

"I can see that." Teddy said.

**Cris started stuffing everything feverishly into her ripped bag, desperate to get away before Malfoy could hear her musical valentine.**

**"What's all this commotion?" said another familiar voice as Percy Weasley arrived. **

"And your luck gets even better." James said.

"No kidding, I really hate your luck." Padfoot said.

"I think we all do now." Remus said.

**Losing her head, Cris tried to make a run for it, but the dwarf seized her around the knees and brought her crashing to the floor.**

**"Right," he said, sitting on Cris' ankles. "Here is your singing valentine, from a friend of Colin Creevey for Colin Creevey: **

"So who was this friend?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know." Cris said. Ginny burned bright red and everyone looked at her.

"It was you?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded and was finding it difficult to talk.

"Colin and I worked really hard on the words." Ginny said.

"I really want to hear the words now." Padfoot said.

"And we will, are you guys ready?" Tonks asked.

"No!" Cris cried.

"Too bad, we have to anyway." Tonks said.

_**Her eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,**_

_**Her hair is as dark as a blackboard,**_

_**I wish she was mine, she's really divine,**_

_**The heroine who conquered the Dark Lord." **_

"Wow, very poetic." Robin said.

"Very catchy too." Sirius said.

"You will not be singing it." Cris said. At the look in Cris' eyes everyone shut up and Tonks continued reading.

**Cris would have given all the gold in Gringotts to evaporate on the spot. Trying valiantly to laugh along with everyone else, she got up, her feet numb from the weight of the dwarf, as Percy Weasley did his best to disperse the crowd, some of whom were crying with mirth.**

**"Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, off to class, now," he said, shooing some of the younger students away. "And you, Malfoy —"**

**Cris, glancing over, saw Malfoy stoop and snatch up something. Leering, he showed it to Crabbe and Goyle, and Cris realized that he'd got Riddle's diary.**

**"Give that back," said Cris quietly.**

**"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" said Malfoy, who obviously hadn't noticed the year on the cover and thought he had Cris' own diary. **

"Now I know why it was blank." Draco said.

"Well actually there was writing; you just had to know how to activate it." Cris said.

"What do you mean?" Tonks asked.

"You'll see later in this chapter, just keep reading." Cris said.

**A hush fell over the onlookers. **

"And everyone wants him to read it." James said.

"Of course, there gits for it too." Fred said.

"Thanks Mischief, you're sweet." Cris said.

"I try," Fred said with a cheeky grin.

"What about me?" George asked in a fake pout.

"You're sweet too Trouble." Cris said with a grin.

**Ginny was staring from the diary to Cris, looking terrified.**

"Why were you staring at it?" Bill asked.

"Was it yours?" Charlie asked.

"Bill, Charlie, leave your sister alone." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Please, it'll explain later." Cris said. They nodded and Ginny gave a small thank-you smile over to Cris who nodded back to her with a small smile as well.

**"Hand it over, Malfoy," said Percy sternly.**

**"When I've had a look," said Malfoy, waving the diary tauntingly at Cris.**

**Percy said, "As a school prefect —" but Cris had lost her temper. She pulled out her wand and shouted, "**_**Expelliarmus**_**!" and just as Snape had disarmed Lockhart, so Malfoy found the diary shooting out of his hand into the air.**

**Ron, grinning broadly, caught it.**

**"Cris!" said Percy loudly. "No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!" **

"It was worth it." Cris said.

"Was that the first time you used it since you saw Snape use it at the Club?" Remus asked.

"Um year," Cris said with a sheepishly look on her face.

"Don't be like that; you are a natural at defense." Remus said.

"I'm pretty good at it." Cris said.

"Pretty good, if that's pretty good, I want to see perfect." Padfoot said.

**But Cris didn't care, she was one-up on Malfoy, and that was worth five points from Gryffindor any day. **

"That's true." James and Padfoot said.

"I'm giving up; I'm tired of telling you to stop encouraging them so I'll just stop." Lily said.

"Well Cris is a part of both of us so it's as much of hurt fault as it is mine." James said.

**Malfoy was looking furious.**

**It wasn't until they had reached Professor Flitwick's class that Cris noticed something rather odd about Riddle's diary. All her other books were drenched in scarlet ink. **

"Did you purposely buy scarlet ink?" Padfoot asked.

"Yep," Cris said.

"So did you notice about the diary?" Moony asked.

"Let mum read and you'll find out dad." Teddy said. Moony was startled for a second but smiled at his future son.

**That she'd have to charm off later. **

"You could do that as a second year?" McGonagall asked. Cris nodded and blushed brightly and hid her face in George's shoulder.

"I think Potter knows more than she lets on in class." Snape said.

"Of course she does, she is my daughter after all." Lily said.

**The diary, however, was as clean as it had been before the ink bottle had smashed all over it.**

"That's odd." Sirius said.

"Possibly something this T.M. Riddle did to preserve his diary." Lily said.

**She tried to point this out to Ron, but Ron was having trouble with his wand again; large purple bubbles were blossoming out of the end, and he wasn't much interested in anything else.**

**Cris went to bed before anyone else in her dormitory that night. This was partly because she didn't think she could stand Fred and George singing, "Her eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad" one more time, **

"Do you really think that?" Lily asked.

"No, they're,"

"Like emeralds,"

"Shining in the night." The twins finished together.

Cris blushed even more hiding in Fred's chest as the girls 'awed,' and the guys snickered.

**and partly because she wanted to examine Riddle's diary again, and knew that Ron thought she was wasting her time.**

**Cris sat on her four-poster and flicked through the blank pages, not one of which had a trace of scarlet ink on it. Then she pulled a new bottle out of her bedside cabinet, dipped her quill into it, and dropped a blot onto the first page of the diary.**

**The ink shone brightly on the paper for a second and then, as though it was being sucked into the page, vanished.**

"That's weird." Keiran said.

"I never told you any of this?" Cris asked.

"You don't talk about your school years very often." Teddy said.

"It's for a good reason." Cris said.

**Excited, Cris loaded up her quill a second time and wrote, "My name is Cris Potter." **

"Oh pup, don't do that." Sirius said.

"I didn't know any better." Cris said

"I know; I'm not blaming you, just that damn curiosity of yours." Sirius said.

"I know, but it did make me really curious." Cris said.

**The words shone momentarily on the page and they, too, sank without trace. Then, at last, something happened.**

**Oozing back out of the page, in her very own ink, came words Cris had never written.**

_**"Hello, Cris Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"**_

"And it writes back, this isn't good." James said.

**These words, too, faded away, but not before Cris had started to scribble back.**

**"Someone tried to flush it down a toilet."**

**She waited eagerly for Riddle's reply.**

_**"Lucky that I recorded my memories in some more lasting way than ink. But I always knew that there would be those who would not want this diary read."**_

**"What do you mean?" Cris scrawled, blotting the page in her excitement.**

_**"I mean that this diary holds memories of terrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." **_

"So he could tell you what happened?" Bill asked.

"Or he could lie to her and make her think something else." Remus said.

**"That's where I am now," Cris wrote quickly. "I'm at Hogwarts, and horrible stuff's been happening. Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"**

**Her heart was hammering. Riddle's reply came quickly, his writing becoming untidier, as though he was hurrying to tell all he knew. **

"Whatever he tells you don't take it to heart." Remus said.

"I wish you were there at the time." Cris said.

"I wish I was there too." Remus said giving her a comforting smile.

_**"Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. But the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned." **_

"No they weren't." Cris snarled.

"How do you know that?" James asked.

"Give it time dad, it'll tell you." Cris said.

"Alright." James said.

"Oh and be warned you may think otherwise about this but don't listen to it. The person he tells me who did it was framed." Cris said.

"Alright, thanks for the heads up." Sirius said.

**Cris nearly upset her ink bottle in her hurry to write back.**

**"It's happening again now. There have been three attacks and no one seems to know who's behind them. Who was it last time?"**

_**"I can show you, if you like,"**_** came Riddle's reply. "**_**You don't have to take my word for it. I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him."**_

**Cris hesitated, her quill suspended over the diary. What did Riddle mean? How could she be taken inside somebody else's memory? She glanced nervously at the door to the dormitory, which was growing dark. When she looked back at the diary, she saw fresh words forming.**

_**"Let me show you." **_

"Impatient, isn't he?" Ron asked.

"That he is." Cris said.

"Who is this guy?" James asked.

"An evil bastard." Cris said.

**Cris paused for a fraction of a second and then wrote two letters.**

**"OK."**

**The pages of the diary began to blow as though caught in a high wind, stopping halfway through the month of June. Mouth hanging open, Cris saw that the little square for June thirteenth seemed to have turned into a miniscule television screen. Her hands trembling slightly, she raised the book to press her eye against the little window, and before she knew what was happening, she was tilting forward; the window was widening, she felt her body leave her bed, and she was pitched headfirst through the opening in the page, into a whirl of color and shadow. **

**She felt her feet hit solid ground, and stood, shaking, as the blurred shapes around her came suddenly into focus.**

**She knew immediately where she was. This circular room with the sleeping portraits was Dumbledore's office — but it wasn't Dumbledore who was sitting behind the desk. A wizened, frail-looking wizard, bald except for a few wisps of white hair, was reading a letter by candlelight. Cris had never seen this man before. **

"Ah, Professor Dippet." McGonagall said.

"He was an interesting headmaster, that's for sure." Dumbledore said.

**"I'm sorry," she said shakily. "I didn't mean to butt in —"**

**But the wizard didn't look up. He continued to read, frowning slightly. Cris drew nearer to his desk and stammered, "Er — I'll just go, shall I?"**

**Still the wizard ignored her. He didn't seem even to have heard her. Thinking that the wizard might be deaf, Cris raised her voice.**

**"Sorry I disturbed you. I'll go now," she half-shouted. **

"You're first memory experience." James said.

"Not my last either." Cris said as she remembered the Death Eater trials she witnessed last year.

**The wizard folded up the letter with a sigh, stood up, walked past Cris without glancing at her, and went to draw the curtains at his window.**

**The sky outside the window was ruby-red; it seemed to be sunset. The wizard went back to the desk, sat down, and twiddled his thumbs, watching the door.**

**Cris looked around the office. No Fawkes the phoenix — no whirring silver contraptions. This was Hogwarts as Riddle had known it, meaning that this unknown wizard was Headmaster, not Dumbledore, and she, Cris, was little more than a phantom, completely invisible to the people of fifty years ago. **

"So you've caught on, took you long enough." Sirius said.

"Shut it." Cris said with a light blush.

**There was a knock on the office door.**

**"Enter," said the old wizard in a feeble voice.**

**A boy of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointed hat. A silver prefect's badge was glinting on his chest. He was much taller than Cris, but he, too, had jet-black hair.**

**"Ah, Riddle," said the Headmaster.**

**"You wanted to see me, Professor Dippet?" said Riddle. He looked nervous.**

**"Sit down," said Dippet. "I've just been reading the letter you sent me."**

**"Oh," said Riddle. He sat down, gripping his hands together very tightly.**

**"My dear boy," said Dipper kindly, "I cannot possibly let you stay at school over the summer. Surely you want to go home for the holidays?" **

"That's interesting, is he a muggleborn?" James asked.

"No," Cris said.

"Do you remember what house he was in?" Padfoot asked.

"Slytherin," Cris said.

"So he isn't muggleborn." Draco said.

"You know him, just by a different name." Cris said.

**"No," said Riddle at once. "I'd much rather stay at Hogwarts than go back to that — to that —"**

**"You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I believe?" said Dippet curiously.**

"I can understand that, I had an orphaned friend once, she hated it there. She was soon adopted and I haven't seen her since." Robin said.

**"Yes, sir," said Riddle, reddening slightly.**

**"You are Muggle-born?"**

**"Half-blood, sir," said Riddle. "Muggle father, witch mother."**

**"And are both your parents —?"**

**"My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to name me — Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather."**

"What happened to his father?" Lily asked.

"We don't know, but I believe that he might have died or left his mother when he found out that she was a witch." Dumbledore said.

'Just like me,' Snape thought to himself.

**Dipper clucked his tongue sympathetically.**

**"The thing is, Tom," he sighed, "Special arrangements might have been made for you, but in the current circumstances…"**

**"You mean all these attacks, sir?" said Riddle, and Cris' heart leapt, and she moved closer, scared of missing anything.**

**"Precisely," said the headmaster. "My dear boy, you must see how foolish it would be of me to allow you to remain at the castle when term ends. Particularly in light of the recent tragedy… the death of that poor little girl… You will be safer by far at your orphanage. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Magic is even now talking about closing the school. We are no nearer locating the — er — source of all this unpleasantness…" **

"The source was right in front of him." Cris muttered.

"I know," Fred whispered.

"Just give it time," George whispered.

"They'll figure it out." They muttered together.

**Riddle's eyes had widened.**

**"Sir — if the person was caught — if it all stopped —"**

**"What do you mean?" said Dippet with a squeak in his voice, sitting up in his chair. "Riddle, do you mean you know something about these attacks?"**

**"No, sir," said Riddle quickly.**

**But Cris was sure it was the same sort of 'no' that she herself had given Dumbledore.**

**Dippet sank back, looking faintly disappointed.**

**"You may go, Tom…"**

**Riddle slid off his chair and slouched out of the room. Cris followed him.**

**Down the moving spiral staircase they went, emerging next to the gargoyle in the darkening corridor. Riddle stopped, and so did Cris, watching him. Cris could tell that Riddle was doing some serious thinking. He was biting his lip, his forehead furrowed.**

**Then, as though he had suddenly reached a decision, he hurried off, Cris gliding noiselessly behind him. They didn't see another person until they reached the entrance hall, when a tall wizard with long, sweeping auburn hair and a beard called to Riddle from the marble staircase. **

"Do you recognize him?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not at first." Cris said with a smile to the headmaster.

**"What are you doing, wandering around this late, Tom?"**

**Cris gaped at the wizard. He was none other than a fifty-year-younger Dumbledore. **

"You were a red head?" Sirius asked the headmaster.

"That I was." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

"I can't picture you with red hair." Bill said with a confused face.

**"I had to see the headmaster, sir," said Riddle.**

**"Well, hurry off to bed," said Dumbledore, giving Riddle exactly the kind of penetrating stare Cris knew so well.**

**"Best not to roam the corridors these days. Not since…" **

The trio and the teachers who knew sighed sadly thinking of Myrtle.

**He sighed heavily, bade Riddle good night, and strode off. Riddle watched him walk out of sight and then, moving quickly, headed straight down the stone steps to the dungeons, with Cris in hot pursuit.**

**But to Cris' disappointment, Riddle led him not into a hidden passageway or a secret tunnel but to the very dungeon in which Cris had Potions with Snape. **

"Where is he going?" James asked.

"He's off to find the person who did it." Padfoot said.

"Or to frame someone." Moony said.

**The torches hadn't been lit, and when Riddle pushed the door almost closed, Cris could only just see him, standing stock-still by the door, watching the passage outside.**

**It felt to Cris that they were there for at least an hour. All she could see was the figure of Riddle at the door, staring through the crack, waiting like a statue.**

**And just when Cris had stopped feeling expectant and tense and started wishing she could return to the present, she heard something move beyond the door.**

**Someone was creeping along the passage. She heard whoever it was pass the dungeon where she and Riddle were hidden. Riddle, quiet as a shadow, edged through the door and followed, Cris tiptoeing behind him, forgetting that she couldn't be heard. **

"It is easy to forget when you are in a memory." Dumbledore said.

**For perhaps five minutes they followed the footsteps, until Riddle stopped suddenly, his head inclined in the direction of new noises. Cris heard a door creak open, and then someone speaking in a hoarse whisper.**

**"C'mon… gotta get yeh outta here… C'mon now… in the box…"**

**There was something familiar about that voice… **

"Sounds like how Hagrid would talk." James said.

"That it does, unless that is Hagrid." Moony said.

**Riddle suddenly jumped around the corner. Cris stepped out behind him. She could see the dark outline of a huge boy who was crouching in front of an open door, a very large box next to it.**

**"Evening, Rubeus," said Riddle sharply.**

"He's going to accuse Hagrid!" Padfoot said in a snarl.

"Hagrid would never do something like that." James said.

**The boy slammed the door shut and stood up.**

**"What yer doin' down here, Tom?"**

**Riddle stepped closer.**

**"It's all over," he said. "I'm going to have to turn you in, Rubeus. They're talking about closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop."**

**''N at d'yeh —"**

**"I don't think you meant to kill anyone. But monsters don't make good pets. I suppose you just let it out for exercise and —"**

**"It never killed no one!" said the large boy, backing against the closed door. From behind him, Cris could hear a funny rustling and clicking.**

**"Come on, Rubeus," said Riddle, moving yet closer. "The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure that the thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered…" **

"It wasn't slaughtered." Cris muttered.

"It just got bigger." Ginny said.

**"It wasn't him!" roared the boy, his voice echoing in the dark passage. "He wouldn'! He never!"**

**"Stand aside," said Riddle, drawing out his wand.**

**His spell lit the corridor with a sudden flaming light. The door behind the large boy flew open with such force it knocked him into the wall opposite. And out of it came something that made Cris let out a long, piercing scream unheard by anyone.**

**A vast, low-slung, hairy body and a tangle of black legs; a gleam of many eyes and a pair of razor-sharp pincers — Riddle raised his wand again, but he was too late. The thing bowled him over as it scuttled away, tearing up the corridor and out of sight. Riddle scrambled to his feet, looking after it; he raised his wand, but the huge boy leapt on him, seized his wand, and threw him back down, yelling, "NOOOOOO!"**

"Hagrid is very protective of his pets." Sirius said with a fond smile.

"That he is as well as his friends." Remus said.

**The scene whirled, the darkness became complete; Cris felt herself falling and, with a crash, she landed spread-eagled on her four-poster in the Gryffindor dormitory, Riddle's diary lying open on her stomach.**

**Before she had had time to regain her breath, the dormitory door opened and Ron came in.**

**"There you are," he said.**

**Cris sat up. She was sweating and shaking.**

**"What's up?" said Ron, looking at her with concern.**

**"It was Hagrid, Ron. Hagrid was the one who was expelled for opening the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago." **

"So you know it wasn't him, that he was framed." McGonagall said.

"Yeah, I know that Hagrid would never bring something that dangerous into a school and if it did start attacking people he would tell someone." Cris said.

"Well that is the chapter." Tonks said passing the book over to her son.

Teddy opened it and began reading the next chapter.


	17. Chapter 14: Cornelius Fudge

"**Chapter 14: Cornelius Fudge," **Teddy read.

"Who's that?" Padfoot asked.

"The Minister." Cris spat.

"I take it that you don't like him?" James asked.

"Not in the slightest." Cris said.

"She has good reason to." Sirius said.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione had always known that Hagrid had an unfortunate liking for large and monstrous creatures. During their first year at Hogwarts he had tried to raise a dragon in his little wooden house, and it would be a long time before they forgot the giant, three-headed dog he'd christened "Fluffy." And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, Cris was sure he'd have gone to any lengths for a glimpse of it. He'd probably thought it was a shame that the monster had been cooped up so long, and thought it deserved the chance to stretch its many legs; Cris could just imagine the thirteen-year-old Hagrid trying to fit a leash and collar on it. But she was equally certain that Hagrid would never have meant to kill anybody. **

"No that's a sight I wouldn't want to see." Cris said with a shiver.

"It would be pretty funny though." Ron said.

"I think me and you have a different definition of funny." Cris said.

**Cris half wished she hadn't found out how to work Riddle's diary. Again and again Ron and Hermione made her recount what she'd seen, until she was heartily sick of telling them and sick of the long, circular conversations that followed. **

"Sorry," they said.

"Don't worry about it, it's over with." Cris said.

**"Riddle might have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people…"**

**"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked dully. **

"A lot," Charlie said.

"Do I even want to know how you know that?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Hagrid and I calculated it." Charlie said with a shrug.

**"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Cris miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award." **

"I highly doubt that is what happened." James said.

"It wasn't." Cris said.

**Ron tried a different tack.**

**"Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"**

**"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione.**

**"And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," said Cris. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here…" **

"I'm just like him." Cris said miserably.

"No you're not, you're nothing like that megalomaniac." Hermione said.

"There are major differences between you two. You have a big heart, he doesn't, you know love, and he doesn't. Don't think for a minute that you two are alike." Ron said. Cris gave him a big smile and a hug before Teddy continued reading.

**"You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Cris?"**

**"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Cris quickly. "I think he was framed," she said suddenly. **

"Good stick up to your friends." James said.

"I just had a feeling that he didn't do it." Cris said.

"Good listen to your gut, it's usually right." Remus said.

"Usually?" Cris asked.

"Yes, usually." Remus said.

**"What?" they both said. **

**"Framed Hagrid, this monster is in the chamber of secrets right? Only an heir can open it, Hagrid's not the heir or it would have been happening for the last fifty years nonstop!" **

**"So he's was framed, by who?" Hermione said. **

**"The real heir," Cris said grimly. "The real heir tipped of Tom Riddle that Hagrid had a monster, automatically it would be thought to be the monster attacking everyone so Riddle tried to capture Hagrid,"**

"Close, but no cigar." Cris said.

"What?" Padfoot asked.

"I was close but not exactly right." Cris explained.

"Oh," Padfoot said.

**The three of them fell silent. After a long pause, Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice.**

**"Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?"**

**"That'd be a cheerful visit," said Ron. "'Hello, Hagrid. We've worked out how you were expelled, do you know who framed you and told Riddle you had the monster?'" **

"Very tactful Ron." Bill said.

"I know, but it was the only thing I could come up with." Ron said.

**In the end, they decided that they would not say anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack, **

"Good call." Sirius said.

"He doesn't want anyone to know what happened; at least you kept it quiet." Remus said.

"It wasn't our secret to tell." Cris said.

**and as more and more days went by with no whisper from the disembodied voice, they became hopeful that they would never need to talk to him about why he had been expelled. It was now nearly four months since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored of his "Oh, Potter, you rotter" song, Ernie Macmillan asked Cris quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This made Professor Sprout very happy.**

**"The moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature," **

"Good, hopefully there won't be any more attacks." Moony said.

"I hope so too." Lily said.

**she told Cris. "Then we'll be able to revive those poor people in the hospital wing."**

**The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, a matter that Hermione, at least, took very seriously.**

"… **it could affect our whole future," she told Cris and Ron as they pored over lists of new subjects, marking them with checks.**

"**I just want to give up Potions," said Cris. **

"I would too if I had your teacher." James said.

"But sadly you need it until OWL's." Padfoot said.

"But that depends on what you want to do." Moony said.

"If you want to be an Auror, you need potions." Remus said.

"Did we tell you how we did on our OWL's?" Cris asked Lily J.

"Well you did tell me, James, Teddy and Keiran." Lily J said.

"And?" Ron asked.

"We aren't going to tell you Uncle Ron." Lily J said.

"You're no fun." Ron said.

**"We can't," said Ron gloomily. "We keep all our old subjects, or I'd've ditched Defense Against the Dark Arts."**

**"But that's very important!" said Hermione, shocked.**

**"Not the way Lockhart teaches it," said Ron. "I haven't learned anything from him except not to set pixies loose."**

**Neville Longbottom had been sent letters from all the witches and wizards in his family, all giving him different advice on what to choose. Confused and worried, he sat reading the subject lists with his tongue poking out, asking people whether they thought Arithmancy sounded more difficult than the study of Ancient Runes. Dean Thomas, who, like Cris, had grown up with Muggles, ended up closing his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list, then picking the subjects it landed on. Hermione took nobody's advice but signed up for everything. **

"That isn't very smart, you will be very overworked next year." Lily said.

"Yes I was," Hermione said.

"We could tell." Ron, Cris, Ginny and Neville said.

**Cris smiled grimly to herself at the thought of what Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would say if she tried to discuss her career in wizardry with them.**

**Not that she didn't get any guidance: Percy Weasley was eager to share his experience. **

"At least he helped." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Well, somewhat helpful anyway." Cris said.

"He's the one that recommended Divinations isn't he?" Remus asked. Cris nodded and Teddy continued.

**"Depends where you want to go, Cristal," he said. "It's never too early to think about the future, so I'd recommend Divination. **

"Don't take it!" Kingsley shouted.

"Too late." Cris said grimly.

"Great, we get to hear about the most boring class in the next book." Kingsley groaned.

**People say Muggle Studies is a soft option, but I personally think wizards should have a thorough understanding of the non-magical community, particularly if they're thinking of working in close contact with them — look at my father, he has to deal with Muggle business all the time. My brother Charlie was always more of an outdoor type, so he went for Care of Magical Creatures. Play to your strengths, Cristal." **

**But the only thing Cris felt she was really good at was Quidditch. In the end, she chose Care of Magical Creatures, because it sounded interesting, Divination same reason and she thought she would go Ancient Runes. **

"But you don't take Ancient Runes." Hermione said.

"Wait for it." Cris grumbled quietly.

**but then she thought about the way that might make her look smart so she stuck with the two. **

"Oh Cris," Remus said.

"They really drilled it into you didn't they?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Can we just continue reading, please?" Cris asked.

"Alright," Mrs. Weasley said.

**It was quite funny in the end as she took the same new subjects as Ron. **

**Gryffindors next Quidditch match would be against Hufflepuff.**

**Wood was insisting on team practices every night after dinner, so that Cris barely had time for anything but Quidditch and homework. However, the training sessions were getting better, or at least drier, and the evening before Saturday's match she went up to her dormitory to drop off her broomstick feeling Gryffindor's chances for the Quidditch cup had never been better. **

"I have a feeling that won't be happening." Robin said.

"What makes you say that?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm not sure, I just have this feeling." Robin said.

**But her cheerful mood didn't last long. At the top of the stairs to the dormitory, she met Neville Longbottom, who was looking frantic.**

**"Cris — I don't know who did it — I just found —"**

**Watching Cris fearfully, Neville pushed open the door.**

**The contents of Cris' trunk had been thrown everywhere. Her cloak lay ripped on the floor. The bedclothes had been pulled off her four-poster and the drawer had been pulled out of her bedside cabinet, the contents strewn over the mattress. **

"Why wasn't I told of this?" McGonagall asked.

"Because what was stolen wasn't mine to begin with." Cris said.

"So whoever it was knew about the diary and how to work it?" Sirius asked.

"That means there is going to be another attack." Remus said.

**Cris walked over to the bed, open-mouthed, treading on a few loose pages of Travels with Trolls. As she and Neville pulled the blankets back onto her bed, Ron, Dean, and Seamus came in. Dean swore loudly. **

"They shouldn't be swearing at that age." Mrs. Weasley said.

"You can't exactly stop them Molly dear." Mr. Weasley said.

"I can try." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"What happened, Cris?"**

**"No idea," said Cris. But Ron was examining Cris' robes. All the pockets were hanging out.**

**"Someone's been looking for something," said Ron. "Is there anything missing?"**

**Cris started to pick up all her things and throw them into her trunk. It was only as she threw the last of the Lockhart books back into it that she realized what wasn't there.**

**"Riddle's diary's gone," she said in an undertone to Ron. **

"I really don't like this." James said.

"Everything seems to be connected to that Diary." Remus said.

Nobody but Ron, Cris and Hermione and obviously Neville noticed that Ginny began to pale even more.

**"What?"**

**Cris jerked her head toward the dormitory door and Ron followed her out. They hurried down to the Gryffindor common room, which was half-empty, and joined Hermione, who was sitting alone, reading a book called Ancient Runes Made Easy.**

**Hermione looked aghast at the news.**

**"But — only a Gryffindor could have stolen — nobody else knows our password —" **

"So the Heir of Slytherin is in Gryffindor?" Padfoot asked confused.

"How is that possible?" James asked.

"Or it could mean that it isn't the heir, that whoever this person is being controlled by the heir." Remus said.

"Is that even possible?" Charlie asked.

"Anything is possible." Tonks said.

**"Exactly," said Cris.**

**They woke the next day to brilliant sunshine and a light, refreshing breeze.**

**"Perfect Quidditch conditions!" said Wood enthusiastically at the Gryffindor table, loading the team's plates with scrambled eggs. "Cris, buck up there, you need a decent breakfast."**

**Cris had been staring down the packed Gryffindor table, wondering if the new owner of Riddle's diary was right in front of her eyes. Hermione had been urging her to report the robbery, but Cris didn't like the idea. She'd have to tell a teacher all about the diary, and how many people knew why Hagrid had been expelled fifty years ago? She didn't want to be the one who brought it all up again.**

"I can understand that." James said.

**As she left the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione to go and collect her Quidditch things, another very serious worry was added to Cris' growing list. She had just set foot on the marble staircase when she heard it yet again.**

**"Kill this time… let me rip… tear…" **

"Another attack," Robin said growing pale.

"Please don't let it be someone we've come to love." James said. Ron gripped Hermione tighter and Teddy continued reading.

**She shouted aloud and Ron and Hermione both jumped away from her in alarm.**

**"The voice!" said Cris, -looking over her shoulder. "I just heard it again — didn't you?"**

**Ron shook his head, wide-eyed. Hermione, however, clapped a hand to her forehead.**

**"Cris — I think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!" And she sprinted away, up the stairs.**

**"What does she understand?" said Cris distractedly; still looking around, trying to tell where the voice had come from. **

**"Loads more than I do," said Ron, shaking his head. "It's weird how you are the only one that can hear this voice though." **

**Then Cris clicked, only she could hear this creature… it was a snake! A snake that can petrify people. **

"What kind of snake can petrify people?" Sirius asked.

"None that I can think of. What about you Charlie?" Remus asked.

"I can't think of any." Charlie said.

**"Hermione no!" she yelled across the corridor. "It's too dangerous!" but Hermione had already left. **

**"What, blimey Cris you've gone pale. What's the matter?" **

**"Ron I just figured it out." She whispered. "Figured what Hermione's figured out." **

"Well not exactly," Cris said.

"Did you figure out what kind of snake it was?" Remus asked.

"I came across it and I just remembered." Hermione said.

"What is it?" everyone asked. The trio smiled slightly but didn't answer.

**Cris stood, irresolute, trying to catch the voice again, but people were now emerging from the Great Hall behind her, talking loudly, exiting through the front doors on their way to the Quidditch pitch.**

**"You'd better get moving," said Ron. "It's nearly eleven — the match —"**

**Cris raced up to Gryffindor Tower, collected her Nimbus Two Thousand, and joined the large crowd swarming across the grounds, but her mind was still in the castle along with the bodiless voice, and as she pulled on her scarlet robes in the locker room, her only comfort was that everyone was now outside to watch the game. **

"Not everyone," Cris muttered.

"Who was it?" Sirius asked.

**Afterward she would find McGonagall and tell her about her discovery. **

**The teams walked onto the field to tumultuous applause. Oliver Wood took off for a warm-up flight around the goal posts; Madam Hooch released the balls. The Hufflepuffs, who played in canary yellow, were standing in a huddle, having a last-minute discussion of tactics. **

**Cris was just mounting her broom when Professor McGonagall came half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.**

**Cris' heart dropped like a stone.**

**"This match has been cancelled,"**

"The attack," Lily said.

**Professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran toward Professor McGonagall without getting off his broomstick.**

**"But, Professor!" he shouted. "We've got to play — the cup —Gryffindor —" **

"He is really off of his rocker." Robin said.

"There are things a little more important than a quidditch game." James said and everyone stared at him.

"Who are you and what have you done with Prongs?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm serious Pads, there are more important things." James said.

"Wow, this experience has really changed him." Robin whispered to Sirius and Remus.

**Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone:**

**"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"**

**Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Cris over to her.**

**"Potter, I think you'd better come with me…" **

**Wondering if Hermione had told her about the voice**

"Let's hope it's that and not blaming you for anything." James said.

"I wasn't blaming her for anything." McGonagall said.

"Then what…. It got Hermione didn't it?" Padfoot asked. Nobody answered but it answered his question and they were now worrying.

**she could hear. Cris did as she was told, Cris saw Ron detach himself from the complaining crowd; he came running up to them as they set off toward the castle. To Cris' surprise, Professor McGonagall didn't object.**

**"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Weasley…"**

**Some of the students swarming around them were grumbling about the match being cancelled; others looked worried. Cris and Ron followed Professor McGonagall back into the school and up the marble staircase. But they weren't taken to anybody's office this time. **

"No, it was much worse than that." Cris mumbled.

"I can imagine," the twins said together.

**"This will be a bit of a shock," said Professor McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. "There has been another attack… another double attack."**

**Cris' insides did a horrible somersault. Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and she and Ron entered… **

**Madam Pomfrey was bending over a fifth-year girl with long, curly hair.**

**Cris recognized her as the Ravenclaw they'd accidentally asked for directions to the Slytherin common room.**

**And on the bed next to her was — **

"I can't take this." Lily said. James grabbed her hand and held her to him.

"Hermione is sitting right there, she is fine, they fixed her and the others so take comfort in that." James said. Lily nodded and they motioned for Teddy to continue.

**"Hermione!" Ron groaned.**

**Hermione lay utterly still, her eyes open and glassy.**

"That's a disturbing image." Charlie said quietly.

"You didn't see it." Cris and Ron said.

**"They were found near the library," said Professor McGonagall. "I don't suppose either of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them…"**

**She was holding up a small, circular mirror, she thought it must be linked somehow, she would have to see what snakes could petrify people. **

**"I will escort Miss Potter and Mr. Weasley to their common room I must speak to them."**

**"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."**

"Well that sucks." James said.

"What happened to talking to a teacher?" Lily asked.

"I forgot, I was stressed and it slipped my mind when I saw Mia lying in that bed." Cris said.

"That is understandable." McGonagall said.

**The Gryffindors packed inside the common room listened to Professor McGonagall in silence. She rolled up the parchment from which she had been reading and said in a somewhat choked voice, "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."**

**She climbed somewhat awkwardly out of the portrait hole, and the Gryffindor's began talking immediately.**

**"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff," said the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan, counting on his fingers. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin — why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" he roared, to nods and scattered applause. Percy Weasley was sitting in a chair behind Lee, but for once he didn't seem keen to make his views heard. He was looking pale and stunned.**

**"Percy's in shock," George told Cris quietly. "That Ravenclaw girl — Penelope Clearwater — she's a prefect. I don't think he thought the monster would dare attack a prefect." **

"It wasn't that." Percy said quietly.

"I understand that Percy." Cris said quietly. Hermione grabbed her hand, Cris was thinking of Cedric, they had gone out briefly before they broke up and he went to Cho.

**But Cris was only half-listening. She didn't seem to be able to get rid of the picture of Hermione, lying on the hospital bed as though carved out of stone. And if the culprit wasn't caught soon, she was looking at a lifetime back with the Dursley's. Tom Riddle had turned Hagrid in because he was faced with the prospect of a Muggle orphanage if the school closed. Cris now knew exactly how he had felt. **

**"What're we going to do?" said Ron quietly in Cris' ear. "D'you think they suspect Hagrid?"**

**"We've got to go and talk to him," said Cris, making up her mind. "I can't believe it's him this time, but if he knows who framed him we might be able to find the kid and stop them."**

**"But McGonagall said we've got to stay in our tower unless we're in class —"**

**"I think," said Cris, more quietly still, "it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again." **

The teachers groaned and Lily and Mrs. Weasley glared at the two.

"The rules were there for a reason." Mrs. Weasley said.

"We didn't want the school to close." Ron said.

"I definitely didn't want to spend the whole year round at the Dursley's." Cris said.

"Alright, I just hope the two of you didn't get hurt." Lily said.

**Cris had inherited just one thing from her father: a long and silvery Invisibility Cloak. It was their only chance of sneaking out of the school to visit Hagrid without anyone knowing about it. They went to bed at the usual time, waited until Neville, Dean, and Seamus had stopped discussing the Chamber of Secrets and finally fallen asleep, then got up, dressed again, and threw the cloak over themselves.**

**The journey through the dark and deserted castle corridors wasn't enjoyable. Cris, who had wandered the castle at night several times before, had never seen it so crowded after sunset. Teachers, prefects, and ghosts were marching the corridors in pairs, staring around for any unusual activity. Their Invisibility Cloak didn't stop them making any noise, and there was a particularly tense moment when Ron stubbed his toe only yards from the spot where Snape stood standing guard. Thankfully, Snape sneezed at almost exactly the moment Ron swore. **

"Good timing Sev," Lily said.

**It was with relief that they reached the oak front doors and eased them open.**

**It was a clear, starry night. They hurried toward the lit windows of Hagrid's house and pulled off the cloak only when they were right outside his front door.**

**Seconds after they had knocked, Hagrid flung it open. They found themselves face-to-face with him aiming a crossbow at them. **

"He sounds paranoid." James said.

"He has reason to be." Lily said.

"Yeah, I just hope that they don't blame him." Padfoot said.

**Fang the boarhound barked loudly behind him.**

**"Oh," he said, lowering the weapon and staring at them. "What're you two doin' here?"**

**"What's that for?" said Cris, pointing at the crossbow as they stepped inside.**

**"Nothin' — nothin' —" Hagrid muttered. "I've bin expectin' — doesn' matter — Sit down — I'll make tea —"**

**He hardly seemed to know what he was doing. He nearly extinguished the fire, spilling water from the kettle on it, and then smashed the teapot with a nervous jerk of his massive hand.**

**"Are you okay, Hagrid?" said Cris. "Did you hear about Hermione?"**

**"Oh, I heard, all righ'," said Hagrid, a slight break in his voice. **

"He's blaming himself?" George asked.

"Yeah," Cris said.

"Poor Hagrid," Fred said.

**He kept glancing nervously at the windows. He poured them both large mugs of boiling water (he had forgotten to add tea bags) and was just putting a slab of fruitcake on a plate when there was a loud knock on the door.**

**Hagrid dropped the fruitcake. Cris and Ron exchanged panic-stricken looks, then threw the Invisibility Cloak back over themselves and retreated into a corner. Hagrid checked that they were hidden, seized his crossbow, and flung open his door once more.**

**"Good evening, Hagrid." **

"He should have hidden the glasses." Moody said.

**It was Dumbledore. He entered, looking deadly serious, and was followed by a second, very odd-looking man.**

"This should be good." Sirius said rubbing his hands together.

"I can't wait to see how you describe the minster." Mr. Weasley said with a smile.

"Father," Percy said.

"What? Her descriptions are entertaining." Mr. Weasley said.

"They are." Bill said with a wide smile.

**The stranger had rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression, and was wearing a strange mixture of clothes: a pinstriped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak, and pointed purple boots. Under his arm he carried a lime-green bowler. **

"Someone needs to give him fashion advice." Lily J said.

"That they do," Teddy said with a smile. Cris saw the look they gave each other and smiled. She will ask her daughter in a few chapters.

**"That's Dad's boss!" Ron breathed. "Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic!"**

**Cris elbowed Ron hard to make him shut up.**

**Hagrid had gone pale and sweaty. He dropped into one of his chairs and looked from Dumbledore to Cornelius Fudge.**

**"Bad business, Hagrid," said Fudge in rather clipped tones. "Very bad business. Had to come. Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act." **

"He's taking Hagrid away?" James asked.

"No wonder I heard him while in Azkaban." Sirius muttered.

"It'll be okay," Robin said rubbing his back.

**"I never," said Hagrid, looking imploringly at Dumbledore. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir —"**

**"I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence," said Dumbledore, frowning at Fudge.**

**"Look, Albus," said Fudge, uncomfortably. "Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something — the school governors have been in touch —" **

"Of course they have," Padfoot snarled.

"I can think of one specifically." Charlie snarled.

Draco shifted uncomfortably but didn't look at anyone.

**"Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were full of a fire Cris had never seen before. **

"It's something I never want seen again." Cris said with a faint shiver.

"I think no one does." James said agreeing with his daughter.

**"Look at it from my point of view," said Fudge, fidgeting with his bowler. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. **

"Doesn't mean it was the right guy." Cris said.

"You don't know that." Percy said.

"As a matter of fact I do." Cris said.

**If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty —"**

**"Take me?" said Hagrid, who was trembling. "Take me where?"**

**"For a short stretch only," said Fudge, not meeting Hagrid's eyes. "Not a punishment,**

"That place isn't a punishment, it's a hell hole." Sirius muttered his face going sheet white. Padfoot looked at his older self, he was really scared and he didn't want to know what he had to face in his future.

Keiran saw his dad's reaction and did something he hadn't done in a very long time. He laid his head on his shoulder and snuggled against him. Sirius was surprised but wrapped an arm around him.

**Hagrid, more a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology —"**

**"Not Azkaban?" croaked Hagrid. **

"They can't do that to Hagrid." James cried.

"They did," Cris said.

"I heard them bringing him in." Sirius said.

"How long were you, was I in there?" Padfoot asked.

"Too long," Robin said.

**Before Fudge could answer, there was another loud rap on the door.**

**Dumbledore answered it. It was Cris' turn for an elbow in the ribs; she'd let out an audible gasp.**

"I heard you." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ron asked.

"I knew that you were there to make sure that Hagrid was okay." Dumbledore said. Cris and Ron turned red and turned away from everyone.

"You guys are really good friends." James said.

**Mr. Lucius Malfoy strode into Hagrid's hut, swathed in a long black travelling cloak, smiling a cold and satisfied smile. Fang started to growl. **

"I don't blame him." Sirius said.

"Bite him Fang," Padfoot snarled.

"No he won't, he's too much of a coward." Charlie said.

**"Already here, Fudge," he said approvingly. "Good, good…"**

**"What're you doin' here?" said Hagrid furiously. "Get outta my house!"**

"What is he doing there?" James asked.

"Nothing good, I'm sure." Remus said.

**"My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your — er — d'you call this a house?" **

"Home is where the heart is." Cris said.

"That is very true, it is where you feel wanted and loved." Mrs. Weasley said.

"So basically the Burrow?" Cris asked. Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly and the twins hugged and kissed her.

**said Lucius Malfoy, sneering as he looked around the small cabin. "I simply called at the school and was told that the headmaster was here."**

**"And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?" said Dumbledore. He spoke politely, but the fire was still blazing in his blue eyes.**

**"Dreadful thing, Dumbledore," said Malfoy lazily, taking out a long roll of parchment, "but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. **

"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"There'll be even more attacks and possibly killings." Remus said.

"That's true," Sirius said.

"Nobody was killed though, right?" Lily asked.

"It came very close." McGonagall said.

"How close?" Tonks asked.

"A student was taken down into the chamber." Snape said. The ones who didn't know were wide eyed and the trio and Ginny were paled at the mention of the chamber.

**This is an Order of Suspension — you'll find all twelve signatures on it.**

"More like bribed." Mr. Weasley said.

"I don't doubt it." Sirius said.

**I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two more this afternoon, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an awful loss that would be to the school."**

"You would like that quite a lot." Sirius sneered.

"Wouldn't put it past him." James said.

**"Oh, now, see here, Lucius," said Fudge, looking alarmed, "Dumbledore suspended — no, no — last thing we want just now."**

**"The appointment — or suspension — of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy smoothly. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks —"**

"How can he stop them if he doesn't know where the chamber is to stop these attacks?" Bill asked.

"Good point." Padfoot said.

**"See here, Malfoy, if Dumbledore can't stop them," said Fudge, whose upper lip was sweating now, "I mean to say, who can?" **

"Two second years full of ambition." Dumbledore said.

"What did you two do?" Remus asked.

"Nothing too bad." Cris said.

"Do I even want to know?" Sirius asked.

"Probably not," Ron said.

**"That remains to be seen," said Mr. Malfoy with a nasty smile. "But as all twelve of us have voted —"**

**Hagrid leapt to his feet, his shaggy black head grazing the ceiling.**

**'An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" **

"He's caught on quick." Moody said.

"Never accuse Hagrid of being slow." Cris said.

**he roared.**

**"Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid," said Mr. Malfoy. "I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all."**

**"Yeh can' take Dumbledore!" yelled Hagrid, making Fang the boarhound cower and whimper in his basket. "Take him away, an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin' next!" **

"Listen to Hagrid." Lily begged.

"Mum, this has already happened." Cris said.

"I know, one could hope though." Lily said.

**"Calm yourself, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply. He looked at Lucius Malfoy.**

**"If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside —"**

**"But —" stuttered Fudge.**

**"No!" growled Hagrid.**

**Dumbledore had not taken his bright blue eyes off Lucius Malfoy's cold grey ones.**

**"However," said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly and clearly so that none of them could miss a word, "you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me… Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." **

"What does that mean?" Padfoot asked.

"Exactly as it sounds." Lily said.

"I still don't get it." Padfoot whispered to Moony.

"You don't get a lot of things." Moony said.

**For a second, Cris was almost sure Dumbledore's eyes flickered toward the corner where she and Ron were hidden.**

**"Admirable sentiments," said Malfoy, bowing. "We shall all miss your — er — highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope your successor will manage to prevent any — ah — killings."**

**He strode to the cabin door, opened it, and bowed Dumbledore out. Fudge, fiddling with his bowler, waited for Hagrid to go ahead of him, but Hagrid stood his ground, took a deep breath, and said carefully, "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right. That's all I'm sayin'." **

"That one is easy enough to understand." James said.

"It's Hagrid, of course it would be easy to understand." Moony said.

**Fudge stared at him in amazement.**

**"All right, I'm comin', said Hagrid, pulling on his moleskin overcoat. But as he was about to follow Fudge through the door, he stopped again and said loudly, "An' someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away." **

"So he leaves that job for you two?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Yep," Cris and Ron said.

"That's a good thing, I think. At least it's Fang and not some other dangerous creature." Lily said.

"Well technically any animal can be dangerous; it just depends on the training." Hermione said.

"Well said," Remus said.

**The door banged shut and Ron pulled off the Invisibility Cloak.**

**"We're in trouble now," Ron said hoarsely. "No Dumbledore. They might as well close the school tonight. There'll be an attack a day with him gone."**

**Fang started howling, scratching at the closed door.**

"Well that's the chapter." Teddy said.

"That was certainly an informative chapter." Remus said.

"I'm next." Kingsley said. Teddy handed the book to him and Kingsley started reading.


	18. Chapter 15: Aragog

"**Chapter 15: Aragog," **Kingsley read.

"What's Aragog?" Padfoot asked.

"Not what who." Cris said.

"Alright then, who's Aragog?" James asked.

"Someone you don't want to meet." Ron said with a shudder.

**Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. But with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene didn't look right to Cris; **

"It wouldn't be right." James said.

"I can't picture Hogwarts without Hagrid." Padfoot said.

"It did seem a lot worse without him there." Fred said.

"Like this thing wouldn't be caught even though we were told that they took Hagrid into custody." George said.

**no better, in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things were so horribly wrong. **

"I can imagine." Lily J said.

"It didn't seem right." Neville said.

**Cris and Ron had tried to visit Hermione, but visitors were now barred from the hospital wing.**

**"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told them severely through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off…" **

"I don't think whoever is doing this would go back after them." Lily said.

"Do you really think that or are you just hoping?" James asked.

"Just hoping, but I know because Hermione was one of them and she is in this room with us." Lily said.

"Good point," James said.

**With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled. **

"Sounds like our time." Padfoot said.

"Yeah, many people were very tense about this whole war. This reminds me of that." James said.

"That sucks." Fred said.

"We would be trying with all our might to get people to laugh." George said.

"That's exactly why we play pranks." Moony said.

**Cris constantly repeated Dumbledore's final words to herself **_**"I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me… Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."**_** But what good were these words? Who exactly were they supposed to ask for help, when everyone was just as confused and scared as they were?**

**Hagrid's hint about the spiders was far easier to understand.**

"Of course it was," Fred said.

"Hagrid's hints are far easier to understand." George said.

**The trouble was; there didn't seem to be a single spider left in the castle to follow. Cris looked everywhere she went, helped (rather reluctantly) by Ron. **

"Your fear seems really bad." Lily said.

"Rose and Hugo inherited it." Teddy said.

"My kids?" Ron asked.

"Yours and Hermione's did you two tell them about…?" Keiran asked.

"No we forgot to mention it." Teddy said.

"Forgot to mention what?" everyone asked.

"Aunt Hermione's pregnant; she and mum are due at the same time." Lily J said.

"Was that planned or was it a complete accident?" Hermione asked.

"Well I'm not exactly sure. All we were told was that Aunt Hermione had problems getting pregnant all three times." Keiran said.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Ron and Cris asked.

"We're not exactly sure; Mum, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione don't like to talk about it." Lily J said.

"I think it happened in their seventh year." Keiran said.

"Can I continue now?" Kingsley asked. Everyone nodded and he continued reading.

**They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander off on their own but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors. Most of their fellow students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but Cris found it very irksome.**

"I can see that. But they are doing it for your safety." Lily said.

"I know, but you try going to the bathroom when a teacher is there." Cris said.

"Yeah, I can understand that." Lily J said.

**One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. **

"One guess who that might be." Padfoot said.

"Why were you doing that anyway?" Cris asked.

"To keep up the image." Draco said.

"Yeah, people will talk when this is all done with." Neville said.

"We can handle it." Cris said.

**Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed Head Boy. Cris didn't realize what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Malfoy, Cris overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.**

**"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not troubling to keep his voice down.**

**"I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in…" **

"Too bad it does get closed and the monster killed." Cris said in mock sadness.

"How do you know that the monster was killed?" Lily asked.

"Um, I plead the fifth." Cris said.

"The fifth?" everyone asked.

"It's part of the American Bill of Rights. The fifth amendment states that you don't have to answer even though you know anyway." Hermione said.

"So how do you know?" James asked.

"Wait for a chapter or two." Cris said.

**Snape swept past Cris, making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron.**

**"Sir," said Malfoy loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"**

**"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough." **

"And the school would be in trouble the day that Snape becomes headmaster." Sirius said. Everyone didn't notice the look between the three future kids.

**"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job— I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir —"**

**Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnigan, who was pretending to vomit into his cauldron.**

**"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods **

"I didn't hear this otherwise I would have told him off." Snape said.

"You didn't have a problem with it last year." James sneered. Lily looked away but it looked like she was going to cry.

"You called my mum that?" Cris asked wide eyed at the potion's master.

"And I regretted it since your mother died; I never got the chance to apologize to her." Snape said. Everyone was shocked at the sadness in his voice.

**haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger —"**

**The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Malfoy's last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.**

**"Let me at him," Ron growled as Cris and Dean hung onto his arms. **

"You know, you're strong for someone so short." Ron said. Cris glared at him and reached over and punched him on the arm.

**"I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands —" **

"I think that is when the crush started." Cris whispered to Fred and George.

"I agree," Fred said.

"They just need to buck up," George said.

"And kiss already," the said together.

Hermione hugged Ron and he smiled as she whispered 'thank you,' I his ear.

**"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snape over the class's heads, and off they marched, with Cris, Ron, and Dean bringing up the rear, Ron still trying to get loose. It was only safe to let go of him when Snape had seen them out of the castle and they were making their way across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses.**

**The Herbology class was very subdued; there were now two missing from their number, Justin and Hermione.**

**Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Cris went to tip an armful of withered stalks onto the compost heap and found herself face-to-face with Ernie Macmillan.**

"What is he doin now?" Sirius asked.

"He's not going to blame you is he?" Lily asked.

"He would be crazy if he thought that Cris would go after her best friends." Remus said.

**Ernie took a deep breath and said, very formally, "I just want to say, Cris, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well —"**

**He held out a pudgy hand, and Cris shook it. **

"You're way to forgiving." Remus said with a smiled.

"Is that a good thing?" Cris asked.

"Yes and no. Just make sure that you actually know the person, alright." Remus said. Cris nodded and Kingsley continued to read.

**Ernie and his friend Hannah came to work at the same Shrivelfig as Cris and Ron.**

**"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie, breaking off dead twigs, "he seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."**

**"That's clever of you," said Ron, who didn't seem to have forgiven Ernie as readily as Cris.**

"No, he seemed out of his mind at first." Ron said.

"Ernie is cool now." Keiran said.

"After the war, everyone gets together to celebrate the defeat of Voldemort but also mourn those who died in the first and second war." Teddy said.

"Besides, everyone deserves a second chance." Lily J said.

"That's true," Cris said with a smile.

"Some people not all." Ron said.

**"Do you think it's Malfoy, Cris?" Ernie asked.**

**"No," said Cris, so firmly that Ernie and Hannah stared.**

**A second later, Cris spotted something.**

**Several large spiders were scuttling over the ground on the other side of the glass, moving in an unnaturally straight line as though taking the shortest route to a prearranged meeting. Cris hit Ron over the hand with her pruning shears. **

"You know, that really hurt." Ron said.

"Sorry, I was just trying to get her attention." Cris said with a smile.

"Note to self," Fred started.

"Never give Cris pruning shears." George finished. They smiled at each other and Cris slapped them.

**"Ouch! What're you —"**

**Cris pointed out the spiders, following their progress with his eyes screwed up against the sun.**

**"Oh, yeah," said Ron, trying, and failing, to look pleased. "But we can't follow them now —"**

**Ernie and Hannah were listening curiously.**

**Cris' eyes narrowed as she focused on the spiders. If they pursued their fixed course, there could be no doubt about where they would end up.**

**"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest…"**

**And Ron looked even unhappier about that.**

"You two go into the forest again?" Sirius asked.

"Technically it was my first time, Cris' third." Ron said.

"Thanks Ron." Cris said glaring mockingly at her friend.

"How many times do the three of you go in there?" Mrs. Weasley asked solemnly.

"Once or twice." Cris said.

"What are we going to with you three?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Love us," the trio said. The adults in the room shook their heads with smiles plastered on their faces.

**At the end of the lesson Professor Sprout escorted the class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Cris and Ron lagged behind the others so they could talk out of earshot.**

**"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Cris told Ron. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."**

**"Right," said Ron, who was twirling his wand nervously in his fingers. **

"Did you know you do that when you're nervous?" Cris asked.

"No, you twirl your hair when you're nervous." Ron said.

"You pay attention, good." Cris said with a smile.

"What does Hermione do?" Sirius asked.

"She bites her nails." Cris said.

"Cris!" Hermione shouted.

"You do," Cris said. Hermione crossed her arms and let Kingsley continue reading as she glared playfully at Cris.

**"Er — aren't there — aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?" he added as they took their usual places at the back of Lockhart's classroom.**

**"It's not a full moon tonight," Cris said, "There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns…"**

**Ron had never been into the Forbidden Forest before. Cris had entered it only once and had hoped never to do so again. **

"You forgot about the time where you followed Snape right?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Cris said rubbing the back of her neck.

"Everyone forgets something's. It's normal." Lily said.

**Lockhart bounded into the room and the class stared at him. Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant.**

**"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?"**

**People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody answered.**

**"Don't you people realize," said Lockhart, speaking slowly, as though they were all a bit dim, "the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away —"**

**"Says who?" said Dean Thomas loudly.**

**"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," **

"Yeah right Fudge will throw anyone in prison if they had at least one conviction." Cris said.

"That's true," Sirius said.

**said Lockhart, in the tone of someone explaining that one and one made two.**

**"Oh, yes he would," said Ron, even more loudly than Dean.**

**"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone. **

"Really, we didn't read that you were there under an invisibility cloak or concealment charms." Bill said.

"Besides Dumbledore would have noticed if he was there but he didn't say anything." Hermione said.

**Ron started to say that he didn't think so, somehow, but stopped in midsentence when Cris kicked him hard under the desk.**

**"We weren't there, remember?" Cris muttered.**

**But Lockhart's disgusting cheeriness, his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated Cris so much that she yearned to throw Gadding with Ghouls right in Lockhart's stupid face.**

"You should have done that, it would have been hilarious." Neville said.

**Instead she contented herself with scrawling a note to Ron: **_**Let's do it tonight**_**.**

"That makes it sound really dirty." Charlie said with a smile.

"Ew, I would never do that with Ron, but apparently I have with the twins since we have six kids." Cris said. She arranged her face to reveal nothing about what happened last night. The twins did as well, and they pulled it off.

"Don't worry dad, you tore into them after she found out she was pregnant with Lily and James." Keiran said.

"What about Moony?" James asked.

"He did too." Teddy said covering the fact that his parents were dead.

**Ron read the message, swallowed hard, and looked sideways at the empty seat usually filled by Hermione. The sight seemed to stiffen his resolve, and he nodded. **

Hermione griped his hand and gave him a smile. Ron smiled back and Kingsley continued reading.

**The Gryffindor common room was always very crowded these days, because from six o'clock onward the Gryffindors had nowhere else to go. **

"I have never seen it so crowded." Fred said.

"It wasn't fun." George said.

"It wasn't meant to be fun." McGonagall said.

"It was for your safety." Mrs. Weasley said.

"But still, everyone has to have some fun in their lives." The twins said.

**They also had plenty to talk about, with the result that the common room often didn't empty until past midnight. Cris went to get the Invisibility Cloak out of her trunk right after dinner, and spent the evening sitting on it, waiting for the room to clear. Fred and George challenged Cris and Ron to a few games of Exploding Snap, and Ginny sat watching them, very subdued in Hermione's usual chair. **

"It wasn't very exciting," Ginny said.

"It was meant as a distraction," Fred said.

"Which didn't work," George said.

"Sorry," Cris and Ron said.

**Cris and Ron kept losing on purpose, trying to finish the games quickly, but even so, it was well past midnight when Fred, George, and Ginny finally went to bed.**

"If you two had known would you have stopped them?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I don't know," Fred said.

"Or we might have come with them." George said.

"I wish you two had come with us." Ron said.

"Would have been helpful." Cris said.

**Cris and Ron waited for the distant sounds of two dormitory doors closing before seizing the cloak, throwing it over themselves, and climbing through the portrait hole.**

**It was another difficult journey through the castle, dodging all the teachers. At last they reached the entrance hall, slid back the lock on the oak front doors, squeezed between them, trying to stop any creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds.**

**"'Course," said Ron abruptly as they strode across the black grass, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but…"**

**His voice trailed away hopefully.**

**They reached Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows. When Cris pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep, booming barks; they hastily fed him treacle fudge from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together. **

"Well that's one way to shut a dog up." Remus said.

"You didn't have to be mean about it." Sirius said.

"It didn't hurt him." Cris said.

"I really hope it didn't." Sirius said.

**Cris left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest.**

**"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," said Cris, patting her leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them, dashed to the edge of the forest, and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree.**

**Cris took out her wand, murmured, "Lumos!" and a tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to let them watch the path for signs of spiders.**

**"Good thinking," said Ron. "I'd light mine, too, but you know — it'd probably blow up or something…"**

**Cris tapped Ron on the shoulder, pointing at the grass. Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from the wand light into the shade of the trees.**

**"Okay," Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst, "I'm ready. Let's go."**

"I don't think either of us were ready for what was to come." Cris said.

"I agree one hundred percent." Ron said.

"What did you face?" everyone asked.

"Something worthy of someone's worst fear." Cris said.

"What?" they asked.

"Read and all shall be revealed." Cris said mysteriously.

"I really hate that." James said.

**So, with Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves, they entered the forest. By the glow of Cris' wand, they followed the steady trickle of spiders moving along the path. They walked behind them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, listening hard for noises other than breaking twigs and rustling leaves. Then, when the trees had become thicker than ever, so that the stars overhead were no longer visible, and Cris' wand shone alone in the sea of dark, **

"Way to be ominous." Keiran said with a slight shudder.

"That does sound ominous. What could they come across in the forest?" Tonks asked.

"Nothing good," Sirius said.

**they saw their spider guides leaving the path.**

**Cris paused, trying to see where the spiders were going, but everything outside her little sphere of light was pitch-black. She had never been this deep into the forest before. She could vividly remember Hagrid advising her not to leave the forest path last time she'd been in here. But Hagrid was miles away now, probably sitting in a cell in Azkaban, and he had also said to follow the spiders.**

**Something wet touched Cris' hand and she jumped backward, crushing Ron's foot, but it was only Fang's nose. **

"Jumpy aren't you?" Charlie asked.

"You would be too." Cris said.

"You're probably right." Charlie said cowering slightly under her glare.

**"What d'you reckon?" Cris said to Ron, whose eyes she could just make out, reflecting the light from her wand.**

**"We've come this far," said Ron.**

**So they followed the darting shadows of the spiders into the trees. They couldn't move very quickly now; there were tree roots and stumps in their way, barely visible in the near blackness. **

"I would be tripping left and right." Tonks said.

"So that's where Teddy gets it from." Lily J said.

"That's not cool." Teddy said crossing his arms.

**Cris could feel Fang's hot breath on her hand. More than once, they had to stop, so that Cris could crouch down and find the spiders in the wand light.**

**They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees were as thick as ever.**

**Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both Cris and Ron jump out of their skins.**

**"What?" said Ron loudly, looking around into the pitch-dark, and gripping Cris' elbow very hard.**

"Please don't let it be horrible or something murderous." Lily said.

"Don't say that!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

"Nothing too bad happened." Cris said.

"What do you classify as bad?" Sirius asked.

"It seems your classification is different to others." Remus said.

"Us not getting killed and escaping the forest from something you don't want to face." Cris said.

"You're leaving something out." James said.

"Well yeah, but you are going to have to read in order to figure it out." Ron said.

**"There's something moving over there," Cris breathed. "Listen… sounds like something big…"**

"What is it?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Something very helpful." Cris said.

**They listened. Some distance to their right, the something big was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees.**

**"Oh, no," said Ron. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh —"**

**"Shut up," said Cris frantically. "It'll hear you."**

**"Hear me?" said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. "It's already heard Fang!"**

**The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs as they stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence.**

**"What d'you think it's doing?" said Cris.**

**"Probably getting ready to pounce," said Ron.**

"Don't say that!" Sirius said.

"Sorry, it was just what popped into my mind." Ron said.

"It was something good right?" the twins asked. They gripped Cris to them and she sighed but relaxed into them.

"Yes, it's something good; you can stop worrying, well at this part." Cris said.

**They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move.**

**"D'you think it's gone?" Cris whispered.**

**"Dunno —"**

**Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze of light, so bright in the darkness that both of them flung up their hands to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder.**

**"Cris!" Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief "Cris, it's our car!" **

"Really?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yeah," Cris and Ron said.

"It has a mind of its own now?" Remus asked.

"I'm not really sure; I didn't exactly ask it as we were leaving the forest." Cris said sarcastically.

**"What?"**

**"Come on!"**

**Cris blundered after Ron toward the light, stumbling and tripping, and a moment later they had emerged into a clearing.**

**Mr. Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. As Ron walked, open-mouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner.**

"I love your analogies Bolt." Hermione said.

"I try," Cris said with a smile.

**"It's been here all the time!" said Ron delightedly, walking around the car. "Look at it. The forest's turned it wild…"**

**The sides of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently it had taken to trundling around the forest on its own. Fang didn't seem at all keen on it; he kept close to Cris, who could feel him quivering.**

"Well he hasn't seen a car before, so it's natural for him to be scared." Charlie said.

"I've seen it happen before, mum, dad and papa caved and got James and I a puppy for our birthday. Auntie Gwen got him for us so he wasn't used to magic." Lily J said.

"What kind of dog?" Cris asked.

"A black lap, we named him Snuffles." Lily J said. Sirius sprewed out his water that he had just drank and began laughing.

"Is he okay?" Bill asked.

"Yes, he'll be just fine." Robin said.

**Her breathing slowing down again, Cris stuffed her wand back into her robes.**

**"And we thought it was going to attack us!" said Ron, leaning against the car and patting it. "I wondered where it had gone!"**

**Cris squinted around on the floodlit ground for signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away from the glare of the headlights.**

**"We've lost the trail," she said. "C'mon, let's go and find them."**

**Ron didn't speak. He didn't move. His eyes were fixed on a point some ten feet above the forest floor, right behind Cris. His face was livid with terror.**

"Oh Merlin, what is it?" Bill asked.

"Something we never want to come across again." Cris shivered.

"If Cris is scared of it then we do have something to worry about." Robin said.

"True, nothing much scares her." Sirius said.

**Cris didn't even have time to turn around. There was a loud clicking noise and suddenly she felt something long and hairy seize her around the middle and lift her off the ground, so that she was hanging facedown. **

The twins gripped her wishing they had gone with them after all.

"You two weren't seriously hurt were you?" Tonks asked.

"No, just scared beyond our wits, or should I say Ron's wits." Cris said.

"Not cool Cris, not cool." Ron said.

"I know, I was scared to but not as scared as you." Cris said.

"Alright, I'll give you that." Ron conceded.

**Struggling, terrified, she heard more clicking, and saw Ron's legs leave the ground, too, heard Fang whimpering and howling — next moment, she was being swept away into the dark trees.**

**Head hanging, Cris saw that what had hold of her was marching on six immensely long, hairy legs, **

"What in the world?" Sirius asked.

"It's something that Ron fears." Cris said.

"Spiders," Fred said.

"But what kind of spiders get that big?" George asked.

"Acromantulas," Charlie said.

"In other words, huge ass spiders." James said.

"No kidding," Ron muttered.

**the front two clutching her tightly below a pair of shining black pincers. Behind her, she could hear another of the creatures, no doubt carrying Ron. They were moving into the very heart of the forest. **

"We're going to end up back there," Ron said.

"Why do you say that?" Bill asked.

"Just a feeling I have." Ron said. Cris and Hermione shared a look before Hermione wrote this down as well.

**Cris could hear Fang fighting to free himself from a third monster, whining loudly, but Cris couldn't have yelled even if she had wanted to; she seemed to have left her voice back with the car in the clearing.**

**She never knew how long she was in the creature's clutches; she only knew that the darkness suddenly lifted enough for her to see that the leaf-strewn ground was now swarming with spiders. Craning her neck sideways, she realized that they had reached the ridge of a vast hollow, a hollow that had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the worst scene she had ever laid eyes on.**

**Spiders. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic. The massive specimen that was carrying Cris made its way down the steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the very center of the hollow, while its fellows closed in all around it, clicking their pincers excitedly at the sight of its load. **

"God, I'd be surprised if neither of you had nightmares after this." Kingsley said.

"Well I did, I have no idea about Cris." Ron said.

"I think I might have, but I don't exactly remember." Cris said with a thoughtful look.

"I would have if I were you." Draco said.

"I'm not exactly surprised by that." Cris said.

**Cris fell to the ground on all fours as the spider released her, she quickly moved her hair out of her eyes. Ron and Fang thudded down next to her. Fang wasn't howling anymore, but cowering silently on the spot. Ron looked exactly like Cris felt. His mouth was stretched wide in a kind of silent scream and his eyes were popping. **

"It was my worst nightmare come true." Ron muttered.

"It's alright; I highly doubt that we will have to deal with them again." Hermione said.

"You don't know that for sure." Ron said his eyes wide with fear again.

"Well I can tell you that you deal with them directly." Teddy said.

"Oh good," Ron said weakly.

**Cris suddenly realized that the spider that had dropped her was saying something. It had been hard to tell, because he clicked his pincers with every word he spoke.**

**"Aragog!" it called. "Aragog!"**

"They can talk?" Sirius asked surprised.

"First I've heard of it." Charlie said.

"How long have they been in the forest?" Bill asked.

"Over fifty years." Cris said.

"Well that makes some sense." Charlie said.

**And from the middle of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind.**

"This is Aragog?" Padfoot asked faintly.

"Yes," Cris said quietly.

"How are you getting out of this one?" Moony asked.

"With luck." Ron said.

**"What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.**

**"Humans," clicked the spider who had caught Cris.**

**"Is it Hagrid?" said Aragog, moving closer, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely.**

**"Strangers," clicked the spider who had brought Ron.**

**"Kill them," clicked Aragog fretfully. "I was sleeping…"**

**"We're friends of Hagrid's," Cris shouted. Her heart seemed to have left her chest to pound in her throat. **

"Good, keep him talking," Moody said.

"You're getting a lot of compliments," Fred whispered.

"From Mad-Eye," George finished.

"I know." Cris whispered back

**Click, click, click went the pincers of the spiders all around the hollow.**

**Aragog paused.**

**"Hagrid has never sent others into our hollow before," he said slowly.**

**"Hagrid's in trouble," said Cris, breathing very fast. "That's why we've come." **

"At least one of you kept their heads." Lily said.

"What can I say; I'm good in intense situations." Cris said.

"And that is a very good thing." James said.

**"In trouble?" said the aged spider, and Cris thought she heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. **

"At least he cares about Hagrid." Teddy said.

"I think it would only be Hagrid." Sirius said.

"That does seem likely." Remus said.

**"But why has he sent you?"**

**Cris thought of getting to her feet but decided against it; she didn't think her legs would support her. So she spoke from the ground, as calmly as she could. **

"You were really calm through all of that." Ron said.

"Someone had to be." Cris said with a shrug.

"I'm thankful she was." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a — a — something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban."**

**Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, and all around the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of spiders; it was like applause, except applause didn't usually make Cris feel sick with fear. **

"You're getting information out of him even though you're afraid?" Padfoot asked.

"That's the whole reason we went in there to begin with." Cris said.

"You're one strange girl." Padfoot said.

"But she's our strange girl." The twins said together.

**"But that was years ago," said Aragog fretfully. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."**

**"And you… you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" said Cris, who could feel cold sweat on her forehead.**

**"I!" said Aragog, clicking angrily. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. **

"That he is." Charlie said.

"He's someone that you would want on your side no matter what." Cris said.

"No kidding, I wouldn't want him mad at me." Sirius said.

"I don't think anyone would." James said.

**When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness…" **

"I think we should watch Hagrid is doing from now on." McGonagall said.

"I think we should as well." Snape said. Dumbledore looked solemn and nodded in agreement.

**Cris summoned what remained of her courage.**

**"So you never — never attacked anyone?"**

**"Never," croaked the old spider. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet…"**

**"But then… Do you know what did kill that girl?" said Cris. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again —"**

**Her words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily; large black shapes shifted all around her. **

"So whatever it is, spiders are terrified of it and it petrifies people. I can't think of any snake that does that." Remus said.

**"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."**

**"What is it?" said Cris urgently.**

**More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed to be closing in.**

**"We do not speak of it!" said Aragog fiercely. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times." **

"So you don't find out yet." James said.

"When do you find out?" Padfoot asked.

"The next day." Cris said.

"Who do you find it out from?" Lily asked.

"Hermione like always." Ron said.

"But isn't she petrified in the hospital wing?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah," the trio said.

**Cris didn't want to press the subject, not with the spiders pressing closer on all sides. Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch slowly toward Cris and Ron.**

**"We'll just go, then," Cris called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind her.**

**"Go?" said Aragog slowly. "I think not…"**

**"But — but —"**

**"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid." **

"Get the hell out of there!" everyone yelled.

"We're sitting right here!" Cris and Ron yelled back.

"Sorry," they said.

**Cris spun around. Feet away, towering above her was a solid wall of spiders, clicking, their many eyes gleaming in their ugly black heads.**

**Even as she reached for her wand, Cris knew it was no good, there were too many of them, but as she tried to stand, ready to die fighting, **

"Why is it that you are always in these types of situations?" Sirius asked faintly.

"My luck," Cris said.

"I really hate your luck then." Remus said.

**a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow.**

**Mr. Weasley's car was thundering down the slope, **

"The car saved you?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yep, it's actually a really thing that we took the car to school that year." Cris said.

"Thank goodness," Mrs. Weasley, Lily, Tonks, Robin and McGonagall said.

**headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of Cris and Ron and the doors flew open.**

**"Get Fang!" Cris yelled, diving into the front seat; Ron seized the boarhound around the middle and threw him, yelping, into the back of the car — the doors slammed shut — Ron didn't touch the accelerator but the car didn't need him; the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders. **

"The car really does have a mind of its own." Bill said.

"It's a good thing too." Sirius said faintly.

"Now they can get out of there safely." Lily said.

**They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping the windows as the car wound its way cleverly through the widest gaps, following a path it obviously knew.**

**Cris looked sideways at Ron. His mouth was still open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren't popping anymore.**

**"Are you okay?"**

**Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak.**

**They smashed their way through the undergrowth, Fang howling loudly in the back seat, and Cris saw the side mirror snap off as they squeezed past a large oak. After ten noisy, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and Cris could again see patches of sky.**

"Thank god you're almost out of there." James said.

"All the times we've been in there and we haven't seen any of those monster spiders in there." Padfoot whispered.

"No kidding," James whispered back.

**The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly thrown into the windshield. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in his anxiety to get out, and when Cris opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house, tail between his legs. Cris got out too, and after a minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his limbs and followed, still stiff-necked and staring. Cris gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view. **

"And it's gone again." Charlie said.

"No you're not going in there to get that damn car." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I wasn't going to." Mr. Weasley said.

"Good," Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris went back into Hagrid's cabin to get the Invisibility Cloak. Fang was trembling under a blanket in his basket. When Cris got outside again, she found Ron being violent sick in the pumpkin patch. **

"I don't blame him." Bill said.

"Anyone would be," Charlie said.

"Just don't tell Hagrid." James said.

"I don't think we did." Hermione said.

**"Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."**

**"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Cris.**

**"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now. "What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"**

**"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Cris, throwing the cloak over Ron and prodding him in the arm to make him walk. "He was innocent."**

**Ron gave a loud snort. Evidently, hatching Aragog in a cupboard wasn't his idea of being innocent.**

**"We thought he been framed anyway," Ron said. **

**"And now we know for definite," Cris said.**

**As the castle loomed nearer Cris twitched the cloak to make sure their feet were hidden, then pushed the creaking front doors ajar. They walked carefully back across the entrance hall and up the marble staircase, holding their breath as they passed corridors where watchful sentries were walking. At last they reached the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where the fire had burned itself into glowing ash. They took off the cloak and climbed the winding stair to their dormitory.**

**Ron fell onto his bed without bothering to get undressed. Cris, however, didn't feel very sleepy. She sat on the edge of her four-poster, thinking hard about everything Aragog had said.**

**The creature that was lurking somewhere in the castle, she thought, sounded like a sort of monster Voldemort — even other monsters didn't want to name it. **

"That's a good description of it." Ginny said.

"Yeah," Cris said.

**But she and Ron were no closer to finding out what it was, or how it petrified its victims. **

**Cris swung her legs up onto her bed and leaned back against her pillows, watching the moon glinting at her through the tower window.**

**She couldn't see what else they could do. They had hit dead ends everywhere. Riddle had caught the wrong person, the Heir of Slytherin had got off, and no one could tell whether it was the same person, or a different one, who had opened the Chamber this time. There was nobody else to ask. Cris lay down, still thinking about what Aragog had said.**

**She was becoming drowsy when what seemed like their very last hope occurred to her, and she suddenly sat bolt upright. **

"What did you think of?" Remus asked.

"The dead girl found in the bathroom." Cris said.

"Why did you think of that?" Padfoot asked.

"What if she's still there?" Moony asked.

"You don't think…" James said. Cris nodded and Kingsley continued reading.

**"Ron," she hissed through the dark, "Ron —"**

**Ron woke with a yelp like Fang's, stared wildly around, and saw Cris.**

"You scared the bloody hell out of me." Ron said.

"Sorry," Cris said.

**"Ron — that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom," said Cris, ignoring Neville's snuffling snores from the corner. "What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?" **

"Myrtle!" everyone realized.

"Yep," Cris said.

"You put things together really well." Tonks said.

"I think she does better than some Aurors." Kingsley said. Cris blushed and Kingsley continued reading.

**Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood, too.**

**"You don't think — not Moaning Myrtle?" **

"Wow, even Ron caught on." Charlie said.

"That's the chapter," Kingsley said. He passed the book over to Moody who opened it and began to read the next chapter.


	19. Chapter 16: The Chamber of Secrets

"**Chapter 16: The Chamber of Secrets," **Moody read.

"Are you trying to give me grey hairs?" Sirius asked.

"Not intentionally." Cris said.

"Well you're doing a damn good job of it." Sirius said.

"Actually, Scar and I have given you most of your grey hairs." Keiran said.

"Stop talking," Sirius said. Keiran smiled widely and Moody started reading.

**"All those times we were in that bathroom, and she was just three toilets away," said Ron bitterly at breakfast next day, "and we could've asked her, and now…"**

**It had been hard enough trying to look for spiders. Escaping their teachers long enough to sneak into a girls' bathroom, the girls' bathroom, moreover, right next to the scene of the first attack, was going to be almost impossible. **

"Almost impossible, not impossible." Moony said.

"So you guys manage it?" Padfoot asked.

"Maybe," Cris said.

**But something happened in their first lesson, Transfiguration that drove the Chamber of Secrets out of their minds for the first time in weeks. Ten minutes into the class, Professor McGonagall told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today. **

"You still have to do exams?" James asked.

"What were they thinking?" Moony asked.

"I highly doubt that any of the students have even thought about studying with all this going on." Lily said.

**"Exams?" howled Seamus Finnigan. "We're still getting exams?"**

**There was a loud bang behind Cris as Neville Longbottom's wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs on his desk. Professor McGonagall restored it with a wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to Seamus.**

**"The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she said sternly. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard."**

"I don't think they were." Remus said.

"I knew they weren't but we had to keep going if we kept the school open." McGonagall said.

"Understandable," Kingsley said.

**Studying hard! It had never occurred to Cris that there would be exams with the castle in this state. There was a great deal of mutinous muttering around the room, which made Professor McGonagall scowl even more darkly.**

**"Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible, she said. "And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year."**

**Cris looked down at the pair of white rabbits she was supposed to be turning into slippers. What had she learned so far this year? A lot but, she couldn't show it. **

"Of course you can." Lily said.

"At the time I still thought that if I did well I would be punished." Cris said shyly.

"I'm so going after the Dursley's after this." Sirius muttered.

"Count me in." Remus muttered back.

**Ron looked as though he'd just been told he had to go and live in the Forbidden Forest. **

"Thanks Cris," Ron said.

"No problem, happy to help." Cris said.

**"Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" he asked Cris, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly. **

"I don't think you would have failed to badly." Charlie said.

"I'd say he did rather well." Cris said. Her and Ron shared a smile while everyone else looked confused.

"Do you have the feeling that we're missing something?" Sirius asked.

"I think we all are." Remus said.

**Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall made another announcement at breakfast.**

**"I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted.**

**"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled joyfully.**

"That would be great." James said.

**"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squealed a girl at the Ravenclaw table.**

"That would be even better!" Lily exclaimed.

**"Quidditch matches are back on!" roared Wood excitedly.**

"Only Oliver," the twins and Cris said with a smile.

"He is completely nuts." Ron said.

"His daughter is the same." Teddy said.

"He reproduced!" the twins cried out.

"Oliver has three, Keira and the twins Zack and Tristan." Keiran said.

"Wow, more quidditch nuts." Remus said.

**When the hubbub had subsided, Professor McGonagall said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit." **

"Well not exactly, but the monster was killed." Hermione said.

"How was it killed?" Padfoot asked.

"Well I'm not exactly sure but I think it had something to do with destroying the brain." Lily J said. The three from the future started to laugh and people looked at them like they were crazy.

"Where did that come from?" Cris asked.

"Sorry, it's just a zombie flick that came out when James and I were 2, it's pretty funny." Lily J said.

"It's a parody of Dawn of the Dead." Teddy said.

"How is a zombie movie funny?" Hermione asked.

"There are several that are funny now." Keiran said.

"You three are insane." Bill said.

"Why thank you Uncle Bill," they said.

**There was an explosion of cheering. Cris looked over at the Slytherin table and wasn't at all surprised to see that Draco Malfoy hadn't joined in. Ron, however, was looking happier than he'd looked in days. **

"Oh Ron," Hermione said. Hermione kissed his cheek and the both of them blushed and looked away from each other.

"So close," Cris whispered.

"I know," the twins whispered back.

**"It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!" he said to Cris. "Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over." **

And now Hermione slapped Ron.

"And now it's not so close." Cris said.

"No kidding," Fred whispered.

"I think they will be together soon," George whispered.

"Two galleons by the end of the books." Fred whispered.

"Two galleons in the middle of one of them." George whispered.

"You're on," they whispered together. Cris shook her head but Moody continued.

**Just then, Ginny Weasley came over and sat down next to Ron. She looked tense and nervous, and Cris noticed that her hands were twisting in her lap.**

**"What's up?" said Ron, helping himself to more porridge.**

**Ginny didn't say anything, but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face that reminded Cris of someone, though she couldn't think who.**

**"Spit it out," said Ron, watching her.**

**Cris suddenly realized who Ginny looked like. She was rocking backward and forward slightly in her chair, exactly like Dobby did when he was teetering on the edge of revealing forbidden information. **

"What did you say to them?" Charlie asked.

"I didn't get the chance to tell them because Percy butted in." Ginny said.

They turned and glared at Percy.

"It wasn't anything too important." Percy said.

"You don't know that." Bill said.

"Maybe she had information on the chamber and wanted to confide in a brother that wouldn't tease her." Charlie said. Percy went pink and stared down into his lap.

**"I've got to tell you something," Ginny mumbled, carefully not looking at Cris.**

**"What is it?" said Cris.**

**Ginny looked as though she couldn't find the right words.**

**"What?" said Ron.**

**Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Cris leaned forward and spoke quietly, so that only Ginny and Ron could hear her.**

**"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?" **

**Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and wan.**

"You're going to tell us about the Chamber weren't you?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Ginny mumbled her pale complexion looking paler by the minute.

**"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty." **

"Come on Perce, couldn't you have sat somewhere else?" Fred asked.

"How was I supposed to know that what she was going to say something important." Percy said.

**Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away. Percy sat down and grabbed a mug from the center of the table.**

**"Percy!" said Ron angrily. "She was just about to tell us something important!"**

**Halfway through a gulp of tea, Percy choked.**

**"What sort of thing?" he said, coughing.**

**"I just asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she started to say…"**

**"Oh — that — that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets," said Percy at once.**

**"How do you know?" said Ron, his eyebrows raised.**

**"Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on me the other day when I was — well, never mind — the point is, she spotted me doing something and I, um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really, I'd just rather —"**

**Cris had never seen Percy look so uncomfortable. **

"I don't think I've ever seen Percy look uncomfortable." Bill said.

"It certainly was funny to see." Ron said.

**"What were you doing, Percy?" said Ron, grinning. "Go on, tell us, we won't laugh."**

**Percy didn't smile back.**

**"Pass me those rolls, Cristal, I'm starving."**

**"Cris" she corrected once again. **

"Why won't you just do as she asks and call her Cris?" Tonks asked.

"I call everyone by their given name." Percy said.

"You don't call me Ginevra." Ginny pointed out. Percy didn't say anything so Moody continued reading.

**Cris knew the whole mystery might be solved tomorrow without their help, but she wasn't about to pass up a chance to speak to Myrtle if it turned up — and to her delight it did, midmorning, when they were being led to History of Magic by Gilderoy Lockhart. **

"What does that idiot do now?" Padfoot asked.

"Probably something stupid." James said.

"More than likely." Moony said.

**Lockhart, who had so often assured them that all danger had passed, only to be proved wrong right away, was now wholeheartedly convinced that it was hardly worth the trouble to see them safely down the corridors. His hair wasn't as sleek as usual; it seemed he had been up most of the night, patrolling the fourth floor.**

**"Mark my words," he said, ushering them around a corner. "The first words out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be 'It was Hagrid.' Frankly, I'm astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."**

**"I agree, sir," said Cris,**

"Why did you say that?" James asked.

"To throw him off." Cris said.

"You are brilliant." Remus said.

**making Ron drop his books in surprise.**

**"Thank you, Cris," said Lockhart graciously while they waited for a long line of Hufflepuffs to pass. "I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night…"**

**"That's right," said Ron, catching on. "Why don't you leave us here, sir, we've only got one more corridor to go —"**

**"You know, Weasley, I think I will," said Lockhart. "I really should go and prepare my next class —"**

**And he hurried off.**

**"Prepare his class," Ron sneered after him. "Gone to curl his hair, more like." **

"I imagine he did." Robin said.

"Wouldn't surprise me one bit." Sirius said.

"If I remember right, you spent as much time in the bathroom as girls most of the time." Remus said.

"I did not," Sirius said.

"Yes you did," James, Remus, Robin and Moony said.

"So that's where Keiran gets it from." Teddy said.

"I'm not that bad." Keiran said.

"Yes you are." Teddy and Lily J said.

"Shut lovebirds." Keiran said. Teddy and Lily J stared wide eyed at Keiran and he then realized what he said and clamped a hand on his mouth.

"I knew it," Remus, Cris and Lily said.

"How did you know?" everyone asked.

"It's the looks," Lily said.

"They've been staring at each other all lovey dovey since they arrived." Cris said. Teddy and Lily J blushed while James smiled over at Moony.

"Hey Moony we're going to be family." James said.

"That we are." Moony said.

**They let the rest of the Gryffindors draw ahead of them, then darted down a side passage and hurried off toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But just as they were congratulating each other on their brilliant scheme.**

**"Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?" **

"Oh-uh, who caught you?" James asked.

"A teacher," Cris said.

"Well duh," Padfoot said.

**It was Professor McGonagall, and her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines.**

**"We were — we were —" Ron stammered. "We were going to — to go and see —"**

**"Hermione," said Cris. Ron and Professor McGonagall both looked at her.**

"You lied to McGonagall again." James said.

"Yep," Cris said.

"And she fell for it." Ron said.

**"We haven't seen her for ages, Professor," Cris went on hurriedly, treading on Ron's foot, "and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry —"**

"That would definitely work." Padfoot said.

"McGonagall may be tough but she has a soft heart when it comes to things like that." James said.

"I'm going to have to watch the three of you more closely." McGonagall said.

**Professor McGonagall was still staring at her, and for a moment, Cris thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice.**

**"Of course," she said, and Cris, amazed, saw a tear glistening in her beady eye. "Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been… I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission." **

"Were you at school when the first attacks happened?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, much like you three I had a friend that was petrified as well." McGonagall said.

"So you do get away with it." James said.

"Yep," Cris and Ron said.

**Cris and Ron walked away, hardly daring to believe that they'd avoided detention. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose. **

"See, she's a big softie." James said.

"We know," Cris and Ron said.

**"That," said Ron fervently, "was the best story you've ever come up with."**

**Cris gave a mock bow grinning at him. **

"And there is your father's genes kicking in." Lily said.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Cris asked.

"Depends on the situation." Lily said.

**They had no choice now but to go to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that they had Professor McGonagall's permission to visit Hermione. **

**Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly.**

**"There's just no point talking to a Petrified person," she said, and they had to admit she had a point when they'd taken their seats next to Hermione. It was plain that Hermione didn't have the faintest inkling that she had visitors, and that they might just as well tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it would do. **

"I wonder if that's how it feels like when you're in a coma." Cris wondered.

"I've been wondering that too, I know that everyone says that they could hear you but how can they be sure?" Hermione asked.

"True, but I've been meaning to ask, could you hear us at all?" Cris asked.

"I could hear very faint whispering but I couldn't make any of it out." Hermione said. Cris nodded and Moody continued reading.

**"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Ron, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know…"**

**But Cris wasn't looking at Hermione's face. She was more interested in her right hand. It lay clenched on top of her blankets, and bending closer, she saw that a piece of paper was scrunched inside her fist. **

"So Cris found it." Hermione said.

"Of course I did, I don't know why I didn't notice it earlier." Cris said.

"Don't you dare do that to yourself. You can't notice every little thing." Ron said. Cris nodded while the twins held her comfortingly.

**Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, she pointed this out to Ron.**

**"Go on and get it out," Ron whispered, shifting his chair so that he blocked Cris from Madam Pomfrey's view.**

**It was no easy task. Hermione's hand was clamped so tightly around the paper that Cris was sure she was going to tear it. While Ron kept watch she tugged and twisted, and at last, after several tense minutes, the paper came free.**

**It was a page torn from a very old library book.**

"You tore a page out of a book?!" Charlie asked shocked.

"I had to get the message to them on way or another." Hermione said.

"Well that is certainly one way to do it." Remus said.

**Cris smoothed it out eagerly and Ron leaned close to read it, too.**

**"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size **

"If it's been there since the founders then it must be huge." Padfoot said.

"At least sixty to a hundred feet." Moony said.

**and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it." **

"It all fits except for the petrified people." Remus said.

**And beneath this, a single word had been written, in a hand Cris recognized as Hermione's. Pipes.**

"And that's how it's been getting around the school without anyone noticing." Robin said.

**It was as though somebody had just flicked a light on in her brain, that's how she could hear this snake through the walls.**

**"Ron," she breathed. "This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk — a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue…"**

**Cris looked up at the beds around her.**

**"The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died — because no one looked it straight in the eye. **

"Okay, that makes since," Remus said.

"Mrs. Norris saw it through the water." Padfoot said.

"Justin through Nick." Bill said.

"Colin through his camera." Fred said.

"And Hermione and the prefect saw it through the mirror." Sirius said.

"Very good," Cris said with a smile.

**Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin… Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again… and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror — and —" **

"You'd make for a good detective at least." Tonks said.

"I find detective novels very entertaining." Cris said.

"I would too, if I could solve mysteries like you three do." Bill said.

**Ron's jaw had dropped.**

**"And Mrs. Norris?" he whispered eagerly.**

**Cris thought hard, picturing the scene on the night of Halloween. **

"Alright, please tell me she's an Auror in the future." Kingsley said.

"Mum is one of the best Aurors." Lily J said.

"Her and Uncle Ron are partners while Aunt Hermione is working in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Keiran said.

"I can see that." Sirius said.

"What about when she was pregnant?" Lily asked.

"They would make her do paper work and Uncle Ron would make sure of that along with dad and papa." Lily J said.

"I must getting bored out of my mind." Cris said.

"I've heard you complain once or twice." Keiran said.

"But dad and papa show up sometimes so you're not that bored." Lily J said. Cris nodded but eyed her boys suspicious as they smiled at her.

**"The water…" she said slowly, "The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection…"**

**She scanned the page in her hand eagerly. The more she looked at it, the more it made sense.**

**"… The crowing of the rooster… is fatal to it!" she read aloud. "Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it! It all fits!"**

**"But how's the basilisk been getting around the place?" said Ron. "A giant snake… Someone would've seen…"**

**Cris, however, pointed at the word Hermione had scribbled at the foot of the page.**

**"Pipes," she said. "Pipes… Ron, it's been using the plumbing. I've been hearing that voice inside the walls…"**

**Ron suddenly grabbed Cris' arm.**

**"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he said hoarsely. "What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in —"**

**"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," said Cris.**

**They sat there, excitement coursing through them, hardly able to believe it. **

"I can't believe three second years cracked a thousand year old mystery in a few minutes where others have failed." Charlie chuckled.

"They are brilliant investigators that's for sure." Dumbledore chuckled.

**"This means," said Cris, "I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school. The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk."**

**"What're we going to do?" said Ron, whose eyes were flashing. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?" **

"Good, go to her." Lily said.

"Did they?" James asked.

"They didn't," McGonagall said.

"But they were going to, so what stopped them?" Sirius asked.

"Something probably horrible." Remus said.

**"Let's go to the staff room," said Cris, jumping up. "She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."**

**They ran downstairs. Not wanting to be discovered hanging around in another corridor, they went straight into the deserted staff room. It was a large, paneled room full of dark, wooden chairs. Cris and Ron paced around it, too excited to sit down.**

**But the bell to signal break never came.**

**Instead, echoing through the corridors came Professor McGonagall's voice, magically magnified.**

**"All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please." **

"You heard us," McGonagall said. Cris and Ron nodded but Snape eyed them.

"Where were you hiding?" he asked.

"The wardrobe." Ron said.

**Cris wheeled around to stare at Ron. "Not another attack? Not now?"**

**"What'll we do?" said Ron, aghast. "Go back to the dormitory?"**

**"No," said Cris, glancing around. There was an ugly sort of wardrobe to her left, full of the teachers' cloaks. "In here. Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out." **

"We never got the chance to tell them what we have found." Cris said.

"Someone didn't die, did they?" Lily asked wide eyed.

"No, something bad but not that bad." Cris said. Neville gripped Ginny tighter to him and she leaned against fighting down her fear.

**They hid themselves inside it, listening to the rumbling of hundreds of people moving overhead, and the staff room door banging open. From between the musty folds of the cloaks, they watched the teachers filtering into the room. Some of them were looking puzzled, others downright scared. Then Professor McGonagall arrived.**

**"It has happened," she told the silent staff room. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself." **

"Oh sweet mother of Merlin," Moony said.

"Who was it?" Padfoot asked wide eyed.

**Professor Flitwick let out a squeal. Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"**

**"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'"**

**Professor Flitwick burst into tears. **

"I've never seen him cry before." Lily said.

"I've only seen him cry once, and that was at your and James' funeral." McGonagall said.

"Where were they buried?" Cris asked quietly.

"You were never told?" James and Sirius asked.

"Nobody told me." Cris said.

"They were buried at Godric's Hallow, where they lived." Remus said. Cris nodded and Moody continued reading.

**"Who is it?" said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair. "Which student?"**

**"Ginny Weasley," **

Everyone looked wide eyed at the young red head girl nearly sitting in Neville's lap nearly shaking in his arms.

"But you got out safely." Lily said.

"It wasn't without help." Ginny said shakily.

"Let me guess, Ron and Cris went down to rescue you?" Sirius asked. Nobody answered but that confirmed what he had asked.

**said Professor McGonagall.**

**Cris felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe floor beside her.**

**"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said…"**

**The staffroom door banged open again. For one wild moment, Cris was sure it would be Dumbledore. But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming.**

"Of course he was." Remus muttered.

**"So sorry — dozed off — what have I missed?"**

**He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably like hatred. Snape stepped forward.**

**"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last." **

"What are you doing Severus?" Remus asked.

"Something to get him out of our hair so we can figure out what to do next." Snape said.

"Smart," Robin said.

**Lockhart blanched.**

**"That's right, Gilderoy," chipped in Professor Sprout. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"**

**"I — well, I —"sputtered Lockhart.**

**"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" piped up Professor Flitwick.**

**"D-did I? I don't recall —"**

**"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said Snape. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?" **

"Yes, yes, yes. Make him out as the fraud he is!" James called out.

"We did," Cris and Ron said.

"What did you two do?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll see, it was pretty funny." Ron said.

**Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues.**

**"I — I really never — you may have misunderstood —"**

**"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."**

**Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome anymore. His lip was trembling, and in the absence of his usually toothy grin, he looked weak-chinned and feeble.**

**"V-very well," he said. "I'll — I'll be in my office, getting — getting ready."**

**And he left the room.**

**"Right," said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils were flared, "that's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories?"**

**The teachers rose and left, one by one.**

**It was probably the worst day of Cris' entire life. She, Ron, Fred, and George sat together in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, unable to say anything to each other. **

"Everything seemed hopeless," Fred said.

"There wasn't anything that we could do," George said.

"And these two," Fred said.

"Didn't tell us what they found," George said.

"Sorry, next time we'll include you in our schemes." Cris said. The twins grinned widely; they have been a part of the scheme this year against the evil toad.

**Percy wasn't there. He had gone to send an owl to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then shut himself up in his dormitory.**

**No afternoon ever lasted as long as that one, nor had Gryffindor Tower ever been so crowded, yet so quiet. Near sunset, Fred and George went up to bed, unable to sit there any longer.**

**"She knew something, Cris," said Ron, speaking for the first time since they had entered the wardrobe in the staff room. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was —" Ron rubbed his eyes frantically. "I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason." **

"It wasn't that," Ron murmured.

"We know Ron, we know what happened." Hermione said.

**Cris could see the sun sinking, blood-red, below the skyline. This was the worst she had ever felt. If only there was something they could do. Anything. **

"There was something and you did exactly that." Remus said.

"I couldn't just sit back," Cris said.

"I couldn't either." James said.

**"Cris" said Ron. "D'you think there's any chance at all she's not — you know —"**

**Cris didn't know what to say. She couldn't see how Ginny could still be alive. **

"Don't think like that unless you see it with your own eyes." Moody grumbled.

**"D'you know what?" said Ron. "I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a basilisk in there."**

**Because Cris couldn't think of anything else to do, and because she wanted to be doing something, she agreed. **

"So with Ron's help you went through with this." Robin said.

"Yeah," Cris said.

"But it was still you who did everything." Sirius said.

**The Gryffindors around them were so miserable, and felt so sorry for the Weasley's, that nobody tried to stop them as they got up, crossed the room, and left through the portrait hole.**

**Darkness was falling as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps, and hurried footsteps.**

**Cris knocked and there was a sudden silence from inside. Then the door opened the tiniest crack and they saw one of Lockhart's eyes peering through it.**

**"Oh — Miss Potter — Mr. Weasley —" he said, opening the door a bit wider. "I'm rather busy at the moment —if you would be quick —"**

**"Professor, we've got some information for you," said Cris. "We think it'll help you."**

**"Er — well — it's not terribly —" The side of Lockhart's face that they could see looked very uncomfortable. "I mean — well — all right —"**

**He opened the door and they entered.**

**His office had been almost completely stripped. **

"He's leaving?!" everyone asked.

"Yep, he's a coward." Ron said.

"I'm so not surprised." Padfoot said.

**Two large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade-green, lilac, midnight blue, had been hastily folded into one of them; books were jumbled untidily into the other. The photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed into boxes on the desk.**

**"Are you going somewhere?" said Cris.**

**"Er, well, yes," said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke and starting to roll it up. "Urgent call — unavoidable — got to go —"**

**"What about my sister?" said Ron jerkily.**

**"Well, as to that — most unfortunate —" said Lockhart, avoiding their eyes as he wrenched open a drawer and started emptying the contents into a bag. "No one regrets more than I —"**

"I'm so sure you regret it." Lily said.

"It's so nice to know that he cares." Tonks said.

**"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" said Cris. "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!"**

**"Well — I must say — when I took the job —" Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. "nothing in the job description — didn't expect —"**

**"You mean you're running away?" said Cris disbelievingly. "After all that stuff you did in your books —"**

**"Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately.**

**"You wrote them!" Cris shouted.**

**"My dear girl," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Cris. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on —" **

"So he's admitting to two second years that he stole from these people and used their achievements for his own gain." Kingsley said.

"Yep, that pretty much sums it up." Cris said.

"I'm still trying to figure out how in the world he got into Ravenclaw." Moony said.

**"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Cris incredulously.**

**"Cris, Cris," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, "it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame; you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."**

**He banged the lids of his trunks shut and locked them.**

**"Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."**

**He pulled out his wand and turned to them. **

"He's going to curse the two of you?" Remus asked wide eyed.

"Well, he didn't exactly succeed." Cris said.

**"Awfully sorry, children, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book —"**

**Cris reached her wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Cris bellowed, "Expelliarmus!"**

**Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window.**

"You should have kept his wand." Moody said.

"In the end, it's a good thing we didn't." Ron said.

**"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," said Cris furiously, kicking Lockhart's trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at her, feeble once more. Cris was still pointing her wand at him.**

**"What d'you want me to do?" said Lockhart weakly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do." **

"But they do, so be a good boy and go with them before Crisy blows something important off." Sirius said. Cris sputtered just as she took a drink of pumpkin juice and started to laugh.

"Why is it I can actually see Cris say something exactly like that?" Ron asked.

"Because she's Cris." Hermione and Ginny said.

**"You're in luck," said Cris, forcing Lockhart to his feet at wand point. "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go."**

**They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**

**They sent Lockhart in first. Cris was pleased to see that he was shaking. **

"I don't think I've ever seen a grown man cower as a twelve year held them at wand point." Remus said with a chuckle.

"She can be scary when she's angry." Sirius said with a shiver remembering the look in her eyes that night in the Shrieking Shack.

"So just like her mum?" James asked.

"Exactly like her." Remus said.

**Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet.**

**"Oh, it's you," she said when she saw Cris. "What do you want this time?"**

**"To ask you how you died," said Cris. **

"Now you've made her day." Lily said.

**Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such a flattering question.**

**"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then —" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."**

**"How?" said Cris.**

**"No idea," said Myrtle in hushed tones. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. **

"The basilisk's eye." Remus whispered. Everyone shivered at the thought.

**My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…" She looked dreamily at Cris. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses." **

"So she came back just to haunt a girl who bullied her?" Lily asked.

"Pretty much." Cris said.

"That's a pretty sad reason." Robin said.

**"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Cris.**

**"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet.**

**Cris and Ron hurried over to it. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face.**

**It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. And then Cris saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake. **

"A perfect hiding place, nobody would suspect a girls bathroom." Remus said.

"We surely didn't expect it." McGonagall said.

"But if we all look back the clues were there." Dumbledore said.

"Right, Myrtle." Sirius said.

**"That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly as she tried to turn it.**

**"Cris," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue." **

"That would help," Remus said.

"Well yeah, I guess it is a good thing then." James said.

"Yeah, I guess." Cris said.

**"But —" Cris thought hard. The only times she'd ever managed to speak Parseltongue were when she'd been faced with a real snake. She stared hard at the tiny engraving, trying to imagine it was real.**

**"Open up," she said.**

**She looked at Ron, who shook his head.**

**"English," he said.**

**Cris looked back at the snake, willing herself to believe it was alive. If she moved her head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving.**

**"Open up," she said.**

**Except that the words weren't what she heard; a strange hissing had escaped her, and at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. **

"Okay, so now the chamber is open, but you don't know what's at the bottom." James said.

"How do you know that it's safe?" Padfoot asked.

"They use Lockhart." Robin said.

"How do you know that?" Sirius asked.

"It's obvious," Robin said with a shrug.

**Cris heard Ron gasp and looked up again. She had made up her mind what she was going to do.**

**"I'm going down there," she said.**

**She couldn't not go, not now they had found the entrance to the Chamber, not if there was even the faintest, slimmest, wildest chance that Ginny might be alive.**

**"Me too," said Ron.**

**There was a pause.**

**"Well, you hardly seem to need me," said Lockhart, with a shadow of his old smile. "I'll just —"**

**He put his hand on the door knob, but Ron and Cris both pointed their wands at him. **

"Yes, don't let him leave." Sirius said.

**"You can go first," Ron snarled.**

**White-faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening.**

**"Children," he said, his voice feeble. "Children, what good will it do?" **

"It'll let them know that it is safe to go down or not." Remus said.

"Yep, that's a good thing." James said.

**Cris jabbed him in the back with her wand. Lockhart slid his legs into the pipe.**

**"I really don't think —" he started to say, but Ron gave him a push, and he slid out of sight. Cris followed quickly. She lowered herself slowly into the pipe, then let go.**

**It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. She could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and she knew that she was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Behind her she could hear Ron, thudding slightly at the curves. **

"It would have been fun if there was water at the bottom and no monster." Cris said.

"That would have been fun." Ron said.

**And then, just as she had begun to worry about what would happen when she hit the ground, the pipe leveled out, and she shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. Lockhart was getting to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and white as a ghost. Cris stood aside as Ron came whizzing out of the pipe, too.**

**"We must be miles under the school," said Cris, her voice echoing in the black tunnel.**

**"Under the lake, probably," said Ron, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls.**

**All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.**

**"Lumos!" Cris muttered to her wand and it lit again. "C'mon," she said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.**

**The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wand light.**

**"Remember," Cris said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away…"**

**But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. **

"Oh the irony." Sirius said.

"What?" everyone who didn't know asked.

"Third book." Cris said.

**Cris lowered her wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones. Trying very hard not to imagine what Ginny might look like if they found her, Cris led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.**

**"Cris — there's something up there —" said Ron hoarsely, grabbing Cris' shoulder.**

**They froze, watching. Cris could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.**

**"Maybe it's asleep," she breathed, glancing back at the other two. Lockhart's hands were pressed over his eyes. Cris turned back to look at the thing, her heart beating so fast it hurt.**

**Very slowly, her eyes as narrow as she could make them and still see; Cris edged forward, her wand held high.**

**The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.**

**"Blimey," said Ron weakly.**

**There was a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way.**

**"Heart of a lion this one," said Ron, rolling his eyes and pointing his wand at Lockhart.**

**Lockhart got to his feet — then he dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground.**

**Cris jumped forward, but too late — Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face. **

"He attacked two students?" McGonagall asked wide eyed.

"But he took Ron's wand so they're fine." Remus said.

"Oh yeah, he doesn't know that his wand is broken." Charlie said with a wide smile.

"This is going their way at least." Sirius said.

**"The adventure ends here!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories!"**

**He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate!"**

**The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Cris flung her arms over her head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. Next moment, she was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.**

**"Ron!" she shouted. "Are you okay? Ron!" **

"And now you have to go off alone." Remus whispered.

"Why is it that the last part you have to do alone?" Sirius asked.

"It must be my luck." Cris said.

"I really hate it then." James said.

"You know, you tend to get separated by your friends when you face whatever is at the end." Lily said.

"It does seem that way." Cris said.

**"I'm here!" came Ron's muffled voice from behind the rock fall. "I'm okay — this git's not, though — he got blasted by the wand —"**

**There was a dull thud and a loud "Ow!" It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins. **

"Good for you." Sirius said.

"It wasn't his shin though." Ron said.

"Now that is such a low blow, but totally worth it." Bill said.

**"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through — it'll take ages…"**

**Cris looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks had appeared in it. She had never tried to break apart anything as large as these rocks by magic, and now didn't seem a good moment to try — what if the whole tunnel caved in?**

**There was another thud and another "Ow!" from behind the rocks. They were wasting time. Ginny had already been in the Chamber of Secrets for hours… Cris knew there was only one thing to do.**

**"Wait there," she called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on… If I'm not back in an hour…" **

"Don't think that," Lily said.

"I'll try not to mum." Cris said.

**There was a very pregnant pause, "I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can — can get back through. And, Cris — let at least one person come back safely won't you." **

"I was hoping for both but you never know what will happen. The waiting drove me crazy." Ron said.

"It would drive anyone crazy." Sirius said.

"You've always been that way though." Robin said.

"That's true." Sirius said.

**"See you in a bit," said Cris, trying to inject some confidence into her shaking voice.**

"It didn't work very well." Ron said.

"Well I had to try." Cris said.

**And she set off alone past the giant snake skin.**

**Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the rocks was gone. The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Cris' body was tingling unpleasantly. She wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what she'd find when it did. And then, at last, as she crept around yet another bend, she saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.**

**Cris approached, her throat very dry. There was no need to pretend these stone snakes were real; their eyes looked strangely alive.**

**She could guess what she had to do. She cleared her throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.**

**"Open," said Cris, in a low, faint hiss.**

**The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Cris, moving the hair from her face, shaking from head to foot walked inside. **

"That's the chapter." Moody said. He handed the book to Keiran who took a deep breath.

"Let's get this over with." Keiran said.

"The sooner the better." Sirius said. So with that Keiran began to read.


	20. Chapter 17: The Heir of Slytherin

"**Chapter 17: The Heir of Slytherin," **Keiran read.

"We're not going to like this chapter are we?" Sirius asked.

"Not particularly." Ginny said.

"I get hurt pretty badly." Cris said.

"Well you were covered in blood." Mr. Weasley said.

"Covered in blood?" Lily asked faintly. The twins whimpered and clutched Cris that is until Sirius snatched her from the twins and sat her in his lap.

"Siri, I obviously made it alright alive." Cris said.

"Just humor me." Sirius said.

**She was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. **

**Her heart beating very fast, Cris stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Ginny?**

**She pulled out her wand **

"That should have already been out." Moody said.

"Sorry, we didn't know any better at the time." Cris said.

"Now we're paranoid and have our wands out all the time practically." Hermione said.

"Yeah, Cris pointed her wand at us when we came to get her." Tonks said.

"Sorry, but it sounded like burglars were in the house." Cris said.

"That was Tonks' fault." Remus said. Tonks stuck her tongue out at Remus who just smiled back at her.

**and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. She kept her eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following her. More than once, with a jolt of the stomach, she thought she saw one stir. **

"It was just the trick of the light." Luna said.

"I forgot she was here." Fred whispered to his twin.

"Me too," George whispered back.

**Then, as she drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.**

**Cris had to crane her neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, **

"Man, I would pay to see the look on old Slytherin's face if someone said that to him." Padfoot said.

"It would be pretty funny until he decided to kill you." James said.

**with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, face down; lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair. **

Ginny began to shake and Neville clutched her to him his eyes widened. Mrs. Weasley gripped Mr. Weasley's hand in a death grip; she didn't want to hear this again.

**"Ginny!" Cris muttered, sprinting to Ginny and dropping to her knees. "Ginny — don't be dead — please don't be dead —" She flung her wand aside, **

"Don't do that!" the adults said.

"I didn't know any better; I was a little more worried about Ginny at the time." Cris said.

"And that is what makes you special." Remus said.

"Though we would like it if you decided to worry about yourself every once in a while." Sirius said. Cris smiled and cuddled closer to her godfather.

**grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over. Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be… **

"Well she's not dead," Lily said.

"At least there's that." James said.

"I don't know what I would do if any of my children died." Mrs. Weasley said in a shaky voice. Nobody noticed the flash of pain in Lily J, Teddy and Keiran's eyes.

**"Ginny, please wake up," Cris muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side. **

Cris shuddered but Ginny smiled at her in reassurance and in thanks. Cris gave her a small smile back.

**"She won't wake," said a soft voice.**

**Cris jumped and spun around on her knees.**

**A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Cris were looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him.**

**"Tom — Tom Riddle?" **

"What in the world?" Lily asked.

"How is he there?" James asked.

"How didn't Cris noticed him?" Moony asked.

Many more unasked questions filled the room at the sudden appearance of Riddle in the Chamber.

**Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Cris' face.**

**"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Cris said desperately. "She's not — she's not —?"**

**"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just." **

"I don't even want to think of it." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I don't blame you." Lily said.

**Cris stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen.**

**"Are you a ghost?" Cris said uncertainly.**

**"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."**

**He pointed toward the floor near Ginny. Lying open there was the little black diary Cris had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Cris wondered how it had got there — but there were more pressing matters to deal with. She touched Ginny's hand. It was cold. **

"I hated seeing her like that." Cris said.

"I know; I felt that way when I saw your parents." Sirius whispered. Cris hugged him with all her might as Keiran continued reading.

**"She's as cold as ice." Cris muttered. "You've got to help me, Tom," Cris said, raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk… I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment… Please, help me."**

**Riddle didn't move. Cris, sweating, managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up her wand again.**

**But her wand had gone. **

"I was a fool." Cris said.

"No you weren't, you were just worried." Robin said.

"Anyone at that age would do what you did." Remus said.

**"Did you see —?"**

**She looked up. Riddle was still watching her — twirling Cris' wand between his long fingers. **

"How could he touch her wand if he's nothing more than a memory?" Charlie asked.

"Maybe he could because he was draining Ginny." Kingsley said.

**"Thanks," said Cris, stretching out her hand for it.**

**A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Cris, twirling the wand idly.**

**"Listen," said Cris urgently, her knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. **

"I'm not that heavy, am I?" Ginny asked trying to lighten the mood.

"No, but people always seem to weigh more when they are unconscious then when they are conscious." Remus said.

"Alright, but I was just teasing Cris." Ginny said.

"I know, but Remus beat me to it." Cris said.

**"We've got to go! If the basilisk comes —"**

**"It won't come until it is called," said Riddle calmly. **

"I should have caught on then; he seemed way to calm about all of this." Cris said.

"You're only human." Teddy said.

"Besides, everyone makes mistakes." Tonks said.

**Cris lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer. **

"I guess I am that heavy." Ginny said with a fake pout.

"You have been hanging out way too much with the twins." Hermione said.

"Hey I thought," Fred said.

"You loved us," George said.

"Well if she doesn't I do." Cris said. They smiled at her and she smiled back.

**"What d'you mean?" she said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it —"**

**Riddle's smile broadened. **

"What a psycho." Hermione said.

"That he is." Cris said.

**"You won't be needing it," he said.**

**Cris stared at him.**

**"What d'you mean, I won't be —?"**

**"I've waited a long time for this, Cristal Potter," said Riddle. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you." **

"Why would he want to?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"Just wait, you'll see why." Cris said.

**"Look," said Cris, losing patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later —"**

**"We're going to talk now," said Riddle, still smiling broadly, and he pocketed Cris' wand. **

"Who the bloody hell is this guy?" Sirius asked.

"Someone you really don't want to mess with." Cris said.

"So he's still alive?" Tonks asked.

"Alive and kicking." Cris said.

**Cris stared at him. There was something very funny going on here… **

"Yes there certainly is something going on." Bill said.

"But what?" Charlie asked.

**"How did Ginny get like this?" she asked slowly.**

**"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger." **

"I shouldn't have done that, I knew better." Ginny said.

"Ginny, stop beating yourself up over this, you didn't know that it would end up like this." Cris said.

"Listen to Bolt, Gin; you didn't know that any of this would happen." Ron said.

**"What are you talking about?" said Cris.**

**"The diary," said Riddle. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how —" Riddle's eyes glinted "— how she didn't think famous, good, great Cris Potter would ever want to be her friend…" **

"Oh but Tom, I am. And I protect my friends to the end of the earth." Cris said.

"And that makes you an awesome and caring friend." Sirius said.

"Just like your father and mother." Robin said. James and Lily looked proud and Cris blushed.

**All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Cris' face. There was an almost hungry look in them. **

"Alright, that's just a little creepy." Hermione said.

"Cris, don't take this the wrong way but I think he likes you." Tonks said. Cris turned slightly green.

"Please don't say that ever again." Cris said.

"Alright, I won't I'm just stating what I saw." Tonks said.

**"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. **

"You were playing her," Cris growled.

"You sick psychotic bastard." Padfoot said.

"Every little girl needs something that she could confide, something to keep her secrets and share her worries." Lily said.

**Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom… I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in… It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…"**

**Riddle laughed a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Cris' neck. **

"It's him isn't it?" Remus asked.

"Yes," Cris said. Remus went wide eyed and urged Keiran to continue.

**"If I say it myself, Cris, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. **

"That he has," Dumbledore said.

**So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted… **

"What does that mean?" Tonks asked. However few people noticed that Dumbledore's eyes widened and that Sirius realized what the diary was.

**I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…" **

"So that's how he did it." Remus muttered. He too suddenly realized what it was after those days where he and Robin were keeping Sirius company at Headquarters and they came across a book that mentioned Horcruxes.

Ginny grown paler and Neville hugged her tighter.

**"What d'you mean?" said Cris, whose mouth had gone very dry.**

**"Haven't you guessed yet, Cristal Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat." **

"He must have thought I was gullible." Cris said.

"You are anything but gullible." Remus said.

"You trust your instincts and that is what matters." Sirius whispered into her ear.

**"No," Cris whispered.**

**"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries… far more interesting, they became… Dear Tom," he recited, watching Cris' horrified face, "'I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. **

"It wasn't paint." Ginny said.

"We know, but you didn't know that then." Neville said kissing her head.

Bill and Charlie saw how it seemed to calm their baby sister down and smiled, maybe Neville would be good for their sister.

Fred and George were both planning pranks on Neville to see if he could handle being in their family.

**Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me… There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad… I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'"**

**Cris' fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into her palms. **

Everyone in the room was doing the same.

**"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny **

"Don't you dare call her stupid." Bill snarled. Cris had an amused look on her face.

"If he does one more time he won't know what hit him." Charlie sneered. Cris and Ginny were now laughing.

"What's so funny?" Padfoot asked.

"Keep reading; you'll see in a few." Cris said.

**to stop trusting her diary," said Riddle. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Cris. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet…" **

"And why was that?" James sneered. Sirius tightened his arms around his goddaughter as Cris started to shake a little.

**"And why did you want to meet me?" said Cris. Anger was coursing through her, and it was an effort to keep her voice steady. **

"I'm sure you did very well, considering the situation." Kingsley said.

**"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Cris," said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Cris' forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust —"**

**"Hagrid's my friend," said Cris, her voice now shaking. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought someone else had and told you, but —"**

**Riddle laughed his high laugh again.**

**"It was my word against Hagrid's, Cris. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student… on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls… **

"Why does that not surprise me?" Robin asked.

"Because it's Hagrid and he does some of the most strangest things." Tonks said.

"That is most certainly true." Remus said.

**but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance… as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power! **

"And yet he is a much better man than you will ever be." Cris sneered.

"That is very true." Ron, Hermione and Ginny said.

**Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, **

"Of course Dumbledore would see right through you." Cris said.

"Dumbledore is no fool." Remus said.

**seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed… Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did…" **

"Because he could see right through you." Bill said.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said.

**"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Cris, her teeth gritted.**

**"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work." **

"Noble? How is that noble?" Draco asked.

"I have no idea," Cris said.

**"Well, you haven't finished it," said Cris triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again —"**

**"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been — you." **

"Of course," James said.

"Doesn't surprise me on bit." Padfoot said.

**Cris stared at him.**

**"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery — particularly if one of your best friends was attacked.**

"So he deliberately attacked Hermione." Moony said.

"Yes, just so I could meet him." Cris said.

"Got to admit, it is a well thought out plan." Remus said.

"Tom has always been like that." Dumbledore said.

**And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue…**

**"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her… She put too much into the diary, into me. **

Her brothers and Neville were shaking but they had to keep reaffirming themselves that their sister/crush was there and safe.

**Enough to let me leave its pages at last… I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Cristal Potter."**

**"Like what?" Cris spat, fists still clenched.**

**"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you — a tiny skinny girl with no extraordinary magical talent **

"If you don't have talent then Voldemort is the Easter Bunny." Remus said. Cris blushed and Keiran continued reading knowing the worst was about to come.

— **managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"**

**There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now. **

**"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Cris slowly. "Voldemort was after your time…"**

**"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Cristal Potter…"**

"What in the world does that mean?" Tonks asked.

"It means he is Voldemort." Remus said.

"What?!" those who didn't know asked.

"Now I understand," Tonks said giving Cris an apologizing look.

**He pulled Cris' wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:**

**TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE**

**Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:**

**I AM LORD VOLDEMORT **

"An anagram, how clever." Lily said.

"What's an anagram?" James asked.

"It's a word that gets it's letters mixed up to spell something completely different." Hermione said.

"That is pretty smart." Remus said.

**"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. **

"Friends, you don't have friends." Padfoot said.

"You just have followers." James said.

**You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Cris — I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!" **

"Does anyone else find it amusing that the one trying to rid the wizarding world of muggleborn is a half-blood?" Padfoot asked.

"Yeah, I wonder if any of his Death Eater realizes it." Robin asked.

"I doubt it. Well Peter knows," Cris said though she whispered the last part.

**Cris' brain seemed to have jammed. She stared numbly at Riddle, at the orphaned boy who had grown up to murder Cris' own parents, and so many others… At last she forced herself to speak.**

**"You're not," she said, her quiet voice full of hatred.**

**"Not what?" snapped Riddle.**

**"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Cris, breathing fast. "Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days —" **

"Oh sweet Merlin, you did not just say that to his face." Sirius begged.

"Yeah, I kind of did." Cris said.

"You either have major guts or your just plain nuts." Tonks said.

"I think it might be a combination of both." Hermione said.

"Thanks," Cris said with a smile.

**The smile had gone from Riddle's face, to be replaced by a very ugly look.**

**"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" he hissed.**

**"He's not as gone as you might think!" Cris retorted. She was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true. **

"Oh wow, you were bluffing him." James said.

"I don't think anyone else has ever bluffed him." Padfoot said.

"You would actually be surprised." Teddy said.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Later in the books," Keiran said.

**Riddle opened his mouth, but froze. **

"Please don't let it be the Basilisk." Lily said.

"It wasn't, it was something much friendlier." Cris said with a secret smile.

**Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Cris' scalp and made her heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that Cris felt it vibrating inside her own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.**

**A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping it's weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle.**

**A second later, the bird was flying straight at Cris. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at her feet, then landed heavily on her shoulder. As it folded its great wings, Cris looked up and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and a beady black eye.**

**The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Cris' cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle. **

**"That's a phoenix." said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it. **

"Well done," Fred said.

"Do you want a cookie," George said.

"For your observation skills?" they asked together.

**"Fawkes?" Cris breathed, and she felt the bird's golden claws squeeze her shoulder gently.**

**"And that —" said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat —" **

"Okay, I don't get it, why is Fawkes there and the sorting hat?" Bill asked.

"What good would they do?" Charlie asked.

"You'll just have to read and find out." Cris said.

"I really hate that answer." Sirius said.

**So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Cris' feet.**

**Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles were laughing at once.**

**"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Cristal Potter? Do you feel safe now?"**

**Cris didn't answer. She might not see what use Fawkes or the Sorting Hat were, but she was no longer alone, and she waited for Riddle to stop laughing with her courage mounting. **

**"To business, Cris," said Riddle, still smiling broadly. "Twice — in your past, in my future — we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. **

"He can't kill you." Luna said.

"What do you mean by that?" Cris asked.

"I have a feeling that we will be finding out in up coming books. So Mr. Black, please continue reading." Dumbledore said.

**How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you stay alive."**

**Cris was thinking fast, weighing her chances. Riddle had the wand. She, Cris, had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, neither of which would be much good in a duel. It looked bad, all right… but the longer Riddle stood there, the more life was dwindling out of Ginny… and in the meantime, Cris noticed suddenly, Riddle's outline was becoming clearer, more solid… If it had to be a fight between her and Riddle, better sooner than later. **

"Alright, that's some good rationale thinking." Moody said.

**"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Cris abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," she added, shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul —" **

"Okay, stop while you're ahead." Sirius said.

"You're really good at pissing people off." James said.

"She comes by that naturally as well." Remus said.

**Riddle's face contorted. Then he forced it into an awful smile. "So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now… there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. **

"We are nothing alike." Cris said.

"No, you're not. You are kind hearted person. He on the other hand is a psychotic killer." Remus said.

**Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike… **

"Just shut up already!" Ron hissed.

**but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."**

**Cris stood, tense, waiting for Riddle to raise her wand. But Riddle's twisted smile was widening again.**

**"Now, Cris, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Cristal Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give her…"**

**He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, then walked away. Cris, fear spreading up her numb legs, watched Riddle stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed — but Cris understood what he was saying…**

**"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." **

"He's calling to the basilisk, isn't he?" Remus asked.

"Yeah," Cris said.

"Great, just great." Lily said.

**Cris wheeled around to look up at the statue, Fawkes swaying on her shoulder.**

**Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horrorstruck, Cris saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole.**

**And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths.**

**"Parseltongue won't save you know Potter! It only obeys me!" laughed Voldemort before Cris could even try, Cris backed away until he hit the dark Chamber wall, and as she shut her eyes tight she felt Fawkes' wing sweep her cheek as he took flight. Cris wanted to shout, "Don't leave me!" but what chance did a phoenix have against the king of serpents? **

"Actually he had a pretty good chance." Cris said.

"Really, what did he do?" Bill asked. Cris gave him a smile but didn't say anything else.

**Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. Cris felt it shudder — she knew what was happening, she could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. Then she heard Riddle's hissing voice:**

**"Kill her."**

**The basilisk was moving toward Cris; she could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Cris began to run blindly sideways, her hands outstretched, feeling her way — Voldemort was laughing.**

**Cris tripped. She fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood the serpent was barely feet from her, she could hear it coming. **

"Oh god, how in the world did you make it out?" Lily asked.

**There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above her, and then something heavy hit Cris so hard that she was smashed into the wall. Waiting for fangs to sink through her body she heard more mad hissing, something thrashing wildly off the pillars.**

**She couldn't help it — she opened her eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on. **

"CRIS!" shouted most the room.

"Do you have," Fred started.

"A death wish or something?" George asked finishing his twin like always.

"Hey, any of you would have done the same thing." Cris said.

**The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. As Cris trembled, ready to close her eyes if it turned, she saw what had distracted the snake.**

**Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabers Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly missing Cris, and before Cris could shut her eyes, it turned — Cris looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony. **

"Good, that takes care of the instant death factor." James said uneasily.

"But how are Ginny and Cris going to get out of there?" Lily asked.

"I'm sure they find a way Lily-Flower." James said rubbing soothing circles on her back.

**"NO!" Cris heard Riddle screaming. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE GIRL IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HER. KILL HER!"**

**The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.**

**"Help me, help me," Cris muttered wildly, "someone — anyone…" **

"Wow, wow, wow. Keiran, repeat that last sentence." Ron said. Keiran did and Ron had a smile plastered on his face.

"Cris asked for help." Ron said.

"It's the end of the world." Hermione said.

"If you're done?" Cris asked. They nodded and Keiran continued with a smile.

**The snake's tail whipped across the floor again. Cris ducked. Something soft hit her face.**

**The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Cris' arms. Cris seized it. It was all she had left, her only chance — she rammed it onto her head and threw herself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail swung over her again.**

"Um, why did you put it on?" Sirius asked.

"I felt like a good idea at the time." Cris said with a shrug.

**Help me — help me — Cris thought, her eyes screwed tight under the hat. Please help me.**

**There was no answering voice. Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly.**

**Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Cris' head, almost knocking her out. **

"What was it?" James asked. Cris smiled but didn't say anything.

"You weren't hurt were you?" Mrs. Weasley and Lily asked.

"Not from that no." Cris said.

**Stars winking in front of her eyes, she grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it.**

**A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.**

"A sword?" James asked confused.

**"KILL THE GIRL! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE GIRL IS BEHIND YOU. SNIFF — SMELL HER."**

**Cris was on her feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face her. She could see the vast, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow her whole, lined with fangs long as her sword, thin, glittering, venomous —**

**It lunged blindly — Cris dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. It lunged again, and its forked tongue lashed Cris' side. She raised the sword in both her hands —**

**The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true — **

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." Lily repeated rocking in her seat. Sirius gripped Cris tighter to him as the twins were whimpering I fear. Fred and George now had their daughter sitting between trying to comfort her and them as Lily J was now as pale as Ginny.

**Cris threw her whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth —**

**But as warm blood drenched Cris' arms, she felt a searing pain just above her elbow. **

"You never said that you were that badly injured." McGonagall said.

"How in the world are you still alive?" Sirius asked.

"Fawkes," Charlie said.

"Of course, phoenix tears, the only known antidote to basilisk venom." Remus said.

"Oh good; I forgot Fawkes was there." Lily said calming down now.

**One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into her arm **

"Ouch, that sounds painful." Tonks said.

"It was, I don't advise it." Cris said.

"Even now you're joking." Remus said shaking his head with a faint smile on his face.

**and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways (the sword remaining in Cris' hands) and fell, twitching, to the floor.**

**Cris slid down the wall. She gripped the fang that was spreading poison through her body and wrenched it out of her arm. But she knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as she watched her own blood soaking her robes, her vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color. She crawled with the help of the sword, over to where Ginny still lay. **

"You should have stayed still." Lily said.

"In the end it was a good thing." Cris said.

"I'm really starting to not like that answer." James said.

"You'll live dad," Cris said.

**"You have little more than a minute to live," Riddle sneered. "I'm going to sit here and watch you die,**

"No you're not," Ron said.

"Nope, Cris is still going to get rid of you." Hermione said.

**Cristal Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."**

**Cris felt drowsy. Everything around her seemed to be spinning. She grabbed Ginny's hand. She had failed her; she'd failed Ron, the twins, Percy, all the other Weasley's. **

"Those were you're thoughts?" Sirius asked.

"That's how I felt at the time." Cris said.

"Do you care about your own life?" Lily asked.

"Of course I do, there are numerous times where I do things purely for me." Cris said.

"Alright," Lily said.

**"So ends the famous Cristal Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by her friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord she so unwisely challenged. **

"She didn't challenge you, you attacked first." Hermione said.

"And the only reason she was down there in the first place was because of you." Lily J said.

**You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Cris… She bought you twelve**

"And we all thought he was smart." James said.

"If he thought about it, he would know that it would be eleven years." Lily said.

**years of borrowed time… but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must…" Riddle laughed again. "Funny how much damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl!" **

"Don't you dare call her silly." Bill snarled.

"I can't believe that we have been threatening You-Know-Who." Charlie said.

"It's worth it though," Bill muttered so anyone couldn't hear him.

**That's it! Cris thought, one last chance to save Ginny.**

"At the time I thought I was dying and I thought I could possibly save Ginny." Cris said.

"You are too noble for your own good." Hermione said. Cris shrugged her shoulders and Keiran continued.

**She clutched the fang in her hand and pulled the diary in front of her. **

"What are you doing?" Tonks asked.

**"What are you –" Cris using all of her strength raised her arm and slammed the fang into the heart of the diary. **

**"NO!" cried Riddle. **

**There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Cris' hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, **

"How is this happening?" Draco asked.

"He's dying…" Bill said.

"Technically, he's just a memory; I'm just destroying the memory." Cris said.

"At least that makes sense." Remus said.

**screaming and flailing and then —**

**He had gone. Cris' wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady drip, drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it. Ginny gasped opening her eyes and sitting up looking around her wildly. **

"I thought I was in a nightmare when I saw you covered in blood." Ginny said.

"Sorry for worrying you Gin." Cris said.

"I'm just glad Fawkes got to you in time." Ginny said.

"We all are." Remus and Sirius said.

**Her bemused eyes travelled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over Cris, in her blood-soaked robes, then to the diary on the floor beside her. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face. **

"We understand sis, you were terrified." Bill said.

Ginny turned crimson and looked into her lap; Neville chuckled and hugged her tighter.

**"Cris — oh, Cris — I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy — it was me, Cris — but I — I s-swear I d-didn't mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and — how did you kill that — that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary —" **

"All of this is normal, don't worry about it Gin-Gin." Charlie said.

"Don't call me Gin-Gin." Ginny said but smiled at her very protective older brother.

**"It's all right," said Cris, holding up the diary, and showing Ginny the fang hole, Cris could see the Chamber dissolving further, she could no longer see Ginny, Ginny must not see her die, she would be traumatized enough, **

"That would be certainly true." Bill said.

"I'm glad you didn't die, because I would have seen it any way." Ginny said.

"She can be a stubborn as you." Ron said with a chuckle.

"Mia, hit Ron for me." Cris said. And both Ginny and Hermione hit him.

**she had to go now. "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Ginny, you've got to get out of here —"**

**"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and — w-what'll Mum and Dad say?" **

"You weren't going to be expelled. Young minds are easy to take over, it's not your fault Miss Weasley." Dumbledore said. Ginny nodded, she was sure that she would have been expelled.

**"G-Ginny" Cris stammered. "Go to the end of the chamber, take this," nodding her head at where the diary was "Ron's on the other side of those rocks go with him. Tell him I did as he asked **

"You know I wouldn't have just left you there." Ron said.

"I should have realized but I didn't want Ginny to see it." Cris said.

Before they could argue anymore Keiran decided to read on.

**and Dumbledore he needs Parseltongue to come and get me alright?"**

**A patch of scarlet swam past, and Cris heard a soft clatter of claws beside her.**

**"Fawkes," said Cris thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes…"**

**She felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced her.**

**Cris blinked. Fawkes's head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers.**

**"GO GINNY!"**

**If this is dying, thought Cris, it's not so bad. **

Most of the women in the room began to cry silently. The twins looked pale and Lily J and silent tears filling in her eyes.

**Even the pain was leaving her…**

**But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Cris gave her head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Cris' arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound — except that there was no wound.**

**"Phoenix tears have healing powers!" Cris gasped flexing her arm. **

"Fawkes must really like you." Charlie said.

"He and I have a special connection." Cris said.

"I think we can see that." Bill said.

**Shaking all over, Cris pulled herself up. Her head was spinning as though she'd just travelled miles by Floo powder. Slowly, she gathered together her wand and the Sorting Hat, and the sword.**

**"Come on Ginny." Cris said comfortingly, she helped her to her feet. **

**Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. Cris urged Ginny forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. Cris heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.**

**After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Cris' ears.**

**"Ron!" Cris yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!" **

"You don't how relieved I was to hear that." Ron said.

"I'm sure very relieved." Sirius said.

**She heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rock fall.**

**"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How — what — where did that bird come from?" **

Everyone chuckled.

"Blunt as ever I see." Remus said.

"Come on, you would have asked the same question right?" Ron asked.

"Well, I would have." Sirius and Padfoot said.

**Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny.**

**"He's Dumbledore's," said Cris, squeezing through herself.**

**"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron,**

"Your face was priceless." Cris said.

"I would have paid to have seen it." The twins said.

"Agreed," Bill and Charlie said. Percy didn't say anything, the supposed attention seeking girl put her life on the line to protect his little sister, and he turned his back on her. He should have been internally grateful to her.

**gaping at the glittering weapon in Cris' hand.**

**"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Cris with a sideways glance at Ginny, who was crying harder than ever.**

**"But —"**

**"Later," Cris said shortly. She didn't think it was a good idea to tell Ron yet who'd been opening the Chamber, not in front of Ginny, anyway. "Where's Lockhart?"**

**"Back there," said Ron, still looking puzzled but jerking his head up the tunnel toward the pipe. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."**

**Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe. Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting there, humming placidly to himself. **

"So where is he now?" James asked.

"In St. Mungo's," Cris said.

"We saw him when we were there a few days ago." Hermione said.

"Why were you there?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll find out in the fifth book I expect." Sirius said.

**"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."**

**Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all.**

**"Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?" **

"Wow, he really has no clue." Moony said.

"And that is what happens when you use a spell like that with a broken wand." Mr. Weasley said.

**"No," said Ron, raising his eyebrows at Cris.**

**Cris bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.**

**"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" she said to Ron.**

**Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had swooped past Cris and was now fluttering in front of her, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers. Cris looked uncertainly at him.**

**"He looks like he wants you to grab hold…" said Ron, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy **

"Ah, but phoenix's can carry heavy loads." Bill said.

"I wasn't there when Professor Dumbledore told us that." Ron said.

"You really need to read the books sometime Ronald." Hermione said. Ron turned red and Keiran continued to try and stop himself from laughing.

**for a bird to pull up there —"**

**"Fawkes," said Cris, "isn't an ordinary bird." She turned quickly to the others. "We've got to hold on to each other. Ginny, grab Ron's hand. Professor Lockhart —"**

**"She means you," said Ron sharply to Lockhart.**

**"You hold Ginny's other hand —"**

**Cris tucked the sword and the Sorting Hat into her belt, Ron took hold of the back of Cris robes, and Cris reached out and took hold of Fawkes's strangely hot tail feathers. **

"Hmm, I don't think I have touched a phoenix before but that's pretty cool." Charlie said.

**An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through her whole body and the next second, in a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe. Cris could hear Lockhart dangling below her, saying, "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!" **

"Wow, I don't even have words to describe him." Remus said.

"I know; he's too idiotic for them." Robin said.

**The chill air was whipping through Cris' hair, and before she'd stopped enjoying the ride, it was over — all four of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Lockhart straightened his hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.**

**Myrtle goggled at them.**

**"You're alive," she said blankly to Cris.**

"Try not to sound so disappointed Myrtle." James said.

"If it was possible I would say that she needed some serious therapy." Lily said.

"I don't think that would work for her." Cris said.

"You're probably right." Lily said.

**"There's no need to sound so disappointed," she said grimly, pushing her hair out of her face and wiping flecks of blood and slime off her glasses; she decided that from now on she would always carry bobbles on her wrist just in case she needed them. **

"And I do," Cris said. She showed them the hair bands that were wrapped around her wrist.

"Good idea," Tonks said.

**"Oh, well… I'd just been thinking… if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.**

**"Urgh!" said Ron as they left the bathroom for the dark, deserted corridor outside. "Cris! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you! You'll be best of mates with girly chats!"**

**But tears were still flooding silently down Ginny's face. **

"It's alright, it's all over, nothing more than a bad memory." Neville whispered to Ginny. Ginny nodded and wiped the tears that had begun to fall down her face.

**"Where now?" said Ron, with an anxious look at Ginny. Cris pointed.**

**Fawkes was leading the way, glowing gold along the corridor. They strode after him, and moments later, found themselves outside Professor McGonagall's office.**

**Cris knocked and pushed the door open. **

"Well that's the chapter." Keiran said. He passed the book to his father and Cris escaped back to her spot as did Lily J.

"Let's just get this over with, it is the last chapter." Sirius said.


	21. Chapter 18: Dobby's Reward

"**Chapter 18: Dobby's Reward," **Sirius read.

"What the hell?" Padfoot asked.

"How did Dobby get a reward?" James asked.

"Let Siri read and find out dad." Cris said.

**For a moment there was silence as Cris, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Cris' case) blood. **

"You three looked really bad." Mr. Weasley said.

"Sorry to worry you." Cris said.

"Not worried more like relieved then worried." McGonagall said.

**Then there was a scream.**

**"Ginny!"**

**It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter. **

"Well yeah, any mother would be worried about their children." Lily said.

"Mum's a worry wort." Lily J said.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me at all." Remus said with a smile.

"It's worse when she's pregnant." Teddy said.

"Well yeah, the hormones are all over the place." Mrs. Weasley said.

"And I have six kids." Cris said.

"We'll survive." Fred said.

"Yep," George agreed.

**Cris, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. **

"Well of course, it looked like you three went through hell, and you did." McGonagall said.

"Sorry," Ginny, Ron and Cris said.

"It wasn't your fault." McGonagall said.

"However I do believe that you left out some facts from you tale Miss Potter." Dumbledore said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to worry you guys too much." Cris said.

**Fawkes went whooshing past Cris' ear and settled on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as Cris found herself and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasley's tight embrace. **

"I really wasn't expecting the hug." Cris said.

"We were worried about you as well. You didn't think anyone would be worried?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Well I knew my friends would but I wasn't exactly sure about the rest of the you." Cris said.

"You just didn't know them very well." Remus said.

"Exactly," Cris said, "but now I know that you all care."

"Good," Lily said.

**"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"**

**"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly. **

"Well you see it's a riveting tale." Cris said.

"Just promise that you won't do anything like this ever again." Remus said.

"I can't promise that." Cris said.

"Every year it seems like something like this happens." Sirius said.

"It does seem like that." Cris said.

**Mrs. Weasley let go of Cris, who hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat, the ruby-encrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle's diary. **

"You know, you looked oddly calm about it." Ron said.

"I think I might have still been in shock." Cris said.

"I understand that." James said.

**Then she started telling them everything. **

"No you didn't," Ginny and Ron said.

"I thought I would spare some of the details." Cris said.

"Next time at least have Ron and Ginny leave and tell the adults everything." Remus said.

"I'll try," Cris said with a smile.

**For nearly a quarter of an hour she spoke into the rapt silence: She told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized that she was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how she and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how she had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom…**

**"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted her as she paused, "so you found out where the entrance was — breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, **

"At least they had good reason to." James said.

"Yeah, saving someone is a pretty good reason to break the rules." Padfoot said.

"Although I would rather them not." Lily said.

**I might add — but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?" **

"I had help, see Mia; I did have a lot of help." Cris said.

"Sure whatever you say Cris." Hermione said.

"Keep telling yourself that." Neville said.

**So Cris, her voice now growing hoarse from all this talking, told them about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving her the sword. But then she faltered. She had so far avoided mentioning Riddle's diary — or Ginny.**

**She was standing with her head against Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they expelled her? Cris thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore… How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all? **

"I would have believed your story, seeing as you witnessed it." Dumbledore said.

"Thank you sir," Cris said.

"Besides, Miss Weasley wouldn't have been expelled for something that wasn't her fault." McGonagall said.

**Instinctively, Cris looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.**

**"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."**

**Relief — warm, sweeping, glorious relief – swept over Cris. "W-what's that?" said Mr. Weasley in a stunned voice. "You Know Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not… Ginny hasn't been… has she?"**

**"It was this diary," said Cris quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen…"**

**Dumbledore took the diary from Cris and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.**

**"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." **

"I can't believe I wanted to be like him." Percy said.

"It's alright, you didn't know." Cris said.

**He turned around to the Weasley's, who were looking utterly bewildered.**

**"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school… travelled far and wide… sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here." **

"It was a clever rouse." Remus said.

"Nobody ever expected him until Dumbledore met him." Sirius said.

"I could see that he wanted more in life than just that." Dumbledore said.

**"But, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with — with — him?"**

**"His d-diary" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year —"**

**"Ginny!" said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain? Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"**

**"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it —"**

**"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. **

"Hot chocolate always seems to help me relax after a stress filled situation." Cris said.

"It does, it really does." Lily and James said. Cris smiled at her parents and Lily J did as well.

"James, Remus and I tend to sneak out and get some hot chocolate when we can't sleep either." Lily J said.

"And it drives Haley, Scar and Xander crazy." Teddy said.

"Alright Scar is Pads daughter, but who are Haley and Xander?" James asked.

"Haley and Xander are siblings; I believe you know their father." Keiran said.

"Who?" they asked.

"Lee," Lily J said.

"Lee? As in Lee Jordan?" Fred asked.

"Our best friend, prankster extraordinaire?" George asked.

"Yep, he has four kids." Keiran said.

"Wow, he was busy." Ron said.

"But not as busy as Fred, George and Cris." Charlie said with a smile.

"Yeah, they almost rival mum and dad." Bill said.

"Don't worry mum is done after Sasha is born." Lily J said.

"Good, but they still broke the curse." James said.

"Curse?" Cris asked.

"So far up until you're children's generation there have been only one child born into the Potter line at a time." James said.

"But you were planning to break it." Sirius said.

"I always wanted my children to have siblings to play with." James said sadly.

"Alright can we get this over with?" Lily asked. They nodded and Sirius picked up where he left off.

**"You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice — I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."**

**"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.**

**"There has been no lasting harm done," said Dumbledore.**

**Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.**

**"You know, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"**

**"Right," said Professor McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with Potter and Weasley, shall I?"**

**"Certainly," said Dumbledore.**

**She left, and Cris and Ron gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant, deal with them? Surely — surely — they weren't about to be punished? **

"No, I don't think you are." Sirius said.

"I think Dumbledore is about to eat his words." Remus said.

"What do you mean?" Padfoot asked.

"At the beginning of the book Dumbledore said that if Cris and Ron break the rules anymore they would be expelled." Moony said.

"Oh yeah," James said.

"Well obviously they didn't so let's see how this plays out." Lily said.

**"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore. **

"You know that almost gave me a heart attack." Cris said.

"And yet the three of you still break the rules." McGonagall said.

"Well, the next year wasn't me and Dumbledore gave us permission and yet I had no idea what was going on." Cris said.

"Now I really want to read about this." James said.

**Ron opened his mouth in horror.**

**"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling.**

**"You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and — let me see — yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor." **

"At least this time you didn't do it in front of the whole school." Lily said.

"Yeah, that was a little stupid to do it like that." Kingsley said.

**Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers and closed his mouth again.**

**"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"**

"I totally forgot that he was there." James said.

"I think we all did." Bill said.

**Cris gave a start. She had completely forgotten about Lockhart. She turned and saw that Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.**

**"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart —"**

**"Am I a professor?" said Lockhart in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"**

"Wow, I think I like him better this way." Lily J said.

"I think I do to." Robin said.

"He is actually modest about him not being a good teacher." Charlie said.

"Yep," Sirius said.

**"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," Ron explained quietly to Dumbledore.**

**"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver moustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!" **

"So you knew." Remus said.

"Of course I did Remus," Dumbledore said.

"But why hire him?" James asked.

"He was the only man that applied for the job." Dumbledore said.

"Wow, that's pretty bad." Padfoot said.

**"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That girl has, though." He pointed at Cris. "She'll lend you one."**

**"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Cris…" **

"What is he going to talk to you about?" Ginny asked.

"Something that you will hear about." Cris said. Ginny fake pouted but smiled over at her friend.

**Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at Dumbledore and Cris as he closed the door.**

**Dumbledore crossed to one of the chairs by the fire.**

**"Sit down, Cris," he said, and Cris sat, feeling unaccountably nervous.**

**"First of all, Cris, I want to thank you," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. "You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."**

**She stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down onto her knee. Cris grinned awkwardly as Dumbledore watched her.**

**"And so you met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you…" **

"Just a little bit." Cris said.

"Is he going to rest assured your fears?" Remus asked.

"Maybe," Cris said with a smile.

**Suddenly, something that was nagging at Cris came tumbling out of her mouth.**

**"Professor Dumbledore… Riddle said I'm like him. Strange likenesses, he said…"**

**"Did he, now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Cris from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think, Cris?"**

**"I don't think I'm like him!" said Cris, more loudly than she'd intended. "I mean, I'm — I'm in Gryffindor, I'm…"**

**But she fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in her mind.**

**"Professor," she started again after a moment. "The Sorting Hat told me I'd — I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while… because I can speak Parseltongue…"**

**"You can speak Parseltongue, Cris," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort — who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin — can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure…"**

**"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Cris said, thunderstruck. **

"He put a piece of himself in you?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, but that's why I never told you." Cris said.

"You thought we would judge you?" Hermione asked. Cris nodded but didn't say anything else.

"We would never judge you based on that alone." Ginny said.

"Thanks," Cris said.

"There's to thank us for, you're still you." Hermione said.

"You're still my best-mate no matter what." Ron said. Cris smiled and hugged her best friends.

**"It certainly seems so."**

**"So I should be in Slytherin," Cris said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it —"**

**"Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Cris. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue — resourcefulness — determination — a certain disregard for rules," **

"That's more from her father than anything else." McGonagall said. Cris smiled sheepishly while James looked proud.

**he added, his moustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."**

**"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Cris in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin…"**

**"Exactly, "said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Cris, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Cris sat motionless in her chair, stunned. "If you want proof, Cris, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."**

**Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Cris. Dully, Cris turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then she saw the name engraved just below the hilt.**

**Godric Gryffindor**

"No way, it's the sword of Gryffindor." Padfoot said.

**"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Cris," said Dumbledore simply.**

"That is certainly true." Robin said.

"See, you belong in Gryffindor, besides I don't think Slytherin could handle you being in their house." Bill said.

"More than likely, we would try and bribe her to stop or something." Draco said.

"And I wouldn't take it." Cris said.

**For a minute, neither of them spoke. Then Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in Professor McGonagall's desk and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.**

**"What you need, Cris is some food and sleep. I suggest you go down to the feast, while I write to Azkaban —we need our gamekeeper back. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too," he added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher… Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?" **

"So who gets the job next year?" James asked.

"Someone who was far better than we've ever had." Hermione said. Some people noted the blush on Remus' cheeks.

**Cris got up and crossed to the door. She had just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.**

**Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.**

**"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly.**

**Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Cris over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.**

**The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoy's shoes. Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was disheveled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore.**

**"So!" he said "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."**

**"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, "the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too… Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."**

"That doesn't surprise me one bit." Padfoot said.

"Sometimes I wonder how mother deals with him." Draco said.

"Probably how she deals with everything else." Tonks said.

"How do you know my mum?" Draco asked.

"Your mum and my mum are sisters, so we're cousins. Hi cuz!" Tonks said cheerfully. Draco stared at her and Sirius continued reading.

**Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury.**

**"So — have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"**

**"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.**

**"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"**

**"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."**

**He held up the small black book with the large hole through the center, watching Mr. Malfoy closely.**

**Cris, however, was watching Dobby.**

**The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed meaningfully on Cris, he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist. **

"So it was Lucius who slipped my daughter the diary." Mr. Weasley said with a sneer.

"Don't worry, he will pay." Cris said with a smile.

"What did you do to him?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Cris said with a smile.

"Why don't I believe you?" Remus asked.

"Let Siri read and find out." Cris said.

**"I see…" said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.**

**"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Cris here —" Mr. Malfoy shot Cris a swift, sharp look "and her friend Ron hadn't discovered this book, why — Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will…" **

"I'm so glad that they found it." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Me too, I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them what really was going on." Ginny said.

"You would be surprised." Dumbledore said.

**"Well, let us hope Miss Potter will always around, to save the day." His face was suddenly masklike.**

**"Don't worry," said Cris, staring straight into his cold grey eyes, "I will be." **

"So he was the one that started it all." Mr. Weasley said with a smile.

"Do you honestly think I would be dumb enough to pick a fight with a known Death Eater?" Cris asked.

"Yes," everyone in the room said.

"Never mind then." Cris said.

**"And imagine," Dumbledore went on as though he was not interrupted, "what might have happened then… The Weasley's are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and — killing Muggle-borns… Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise…" **

"His dream would have come true, it would have been." Bill said. Cris, Hermione, Lily, Lily J, Keiran and Teddy started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Bill asked.

"You sound like Yoda," Cris said.

"Whose Yoda?" Charlie asked.

"It sounds like a disease." Sirius said.

"It's a character in a movie," Lily said.

"He's this little green alien dude, and he talks backwards." Lily J said.

"That sounds very complicated." Ron said.

**Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak**

**"Very fortunate," he said stiffly.**

**And still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.**

**And Cris suddenly understood. She nodded at Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.**

**"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" said Cris.**

**Lucius Malfoy rounded on her.**

**"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.**

**"Because you gave it to her," said Cris. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?" **

"You pick up on things rather quickly." Tonks said.

"No one wants to mess with her, especially when she's pregnant." Lily J said.

"I can see that," Remus said.

**She saw Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench.**

**"Prove it," he hissed.**

**"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Cris. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…"**

**Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Cris distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to his house-elf. "We're going, Dobby!"**

**He wrenched open the door and as the elf came hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it. They could hear Dobby squealing with pain all the way along the corridor. **

"That's horrible," Hermione shrieked.

"What's going to happen to the elf?" Lily asked.

"Something really good," Ron said.

**Cris stood for a moment, thinking hard. Then it came to her —**

**"Professor Dumbledore," she said hurriedly. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"**

**"Certainly, Cris," said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember…" Cris grabbed the diary and dashed out of the office. She could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Cris took off one of her shoes, pulled off her slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed it into the diary. **

"Does it work?" Padfoot asked.

"Possibly," Cris said.

**Then she ran down the dark corridor.**

**She caught up with them at the top of the stairs.**

**"Mr. Malfoy," she gasped, skidding to a halt, "I've got something for you —"**

**And she forced the diary into Lucius Malfoy's hand.**

**"What the —?"**

**Mr. Malfoy threw the diary into Dobby's chest**

**"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parent's one of these days, Cristal Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too." **

"How dare he!" Lily shrieked.

"Don't worry Lily; he will get what's coming." James said.

**He turned to go.**

**"Open it." Cris whispered to Dobby, he did and the sock fell into his other hand.**

**"Come, Dobby. I said, come."**

**But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Cris' disgusting, slimy sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure.**

**"Master has given a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave it to Dobby."**

**"What's that?" spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"**

**"Got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw it at Dobby, threw it into Dobby's chest so Dobby hold it, and Dobby — Dobby is free."**

**Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf then he lunged at Cris.**

"Don't you dare harm my daughter/goddaughter/Cris/mum/aunt Cris!" shouted almost the whole room.

Cris blushed and hid her face again.

"Don't hide Bambi," Fred said.

"We do this because we care," George said.

**"You've lost me my servant, girl!"**

**But Dobby shouted, "You shall not harm Cristal Potter!"**

**"Cruc –" **

"HE WAS ABOUT TO TORTURE YOU?!" everyone exclaimed.

"Um, yeah, but he didn't." Cris said.

"Dobby stops him, doesn't he?" Remus asked.

"Yes," Cris said.

**There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing below.**

**He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger.**

**"You shall go now," he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy. "You shall not touch Cristal Potter. You shall go now."**

**Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the pair of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.**

**"Cristal Potter freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at Cris, moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb-like eyes. "Cristal Potter set Dobby free!"**

**"Least I could do, Dobby," said Cris, grinning. "Just promise never to try and save my life again." **

"Yeah, he almost killed by trying to save your life." James asked.

"That tends to happen with Dobby." Cris said.

**The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile.**

**"I've just got one question, Dobby," said Cris as Dobby pulled on Cris' sock with shaking hands. "You told me all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well —"**

**"It was a clue, miss," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?" **

"I get it now!" Lily said.

"It wasn't a very good clue though." James said.

"No, but it was clever." Moony said.

**"Right," said Cris weakly. "Well, I'd better go. There's a feast, and my friend Hermione should be awake by now…"**

**Dobby threw his arms around Cris' middle and hugged her.**

**"Cristal Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed. "Farewell, Cristal Potter!"**

**And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.**

**Cris had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Cris didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward her, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" **

"It was the best bit." Cris said.

"I would have loved to have a feast while in pajamas." Padfoot said.

"That's because you're lazy." Moony said.

"Am not," Padfoot said.

"Let's stop before this gets any worse." James said. Sirius quickly began reading again.

**or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring her hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting her, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Cris and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or her and Ron's four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been cancelled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering**

"Of course, any sane person would." Bill said as everyone laughed.

**that greeted this news.**

**"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."**

**The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences — Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were cancelled ("but we've had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned the place. On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the other hand, Ginny Weasley was perfectly happy again. **

"That's always good," Bill said.

"I've never seen a moment when Gin doesn't a have smile on her face and laughing." Charlie said. Ginny blushed a Weasley red making everyone chuckle once more.

**Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express.**

**Bella, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. Cris was getting very good at it. **

"And it's very powerful," Snape said.

"How would you know?" McGonagall asked.

"Well, you see, um, end of the third book." Cris said hastily.

**They were almost at King's Cross when Cris remembered something.**

**"Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"**

**"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well — Percy's got a girlfriend."**

**Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head.**

"That hurt you know." George said mock glaring at his twin.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Cris asked.

"Maybe," George said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

**"What?"**

**"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny.**

**"That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.**

**"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.**

**"Definitely not," said George, sniggering. **

"Oh they did," Ron said.

"I would think that they would." Charlie said.

**The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.**

**Cris pulled out her quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron and Hermione.**

**"This is called a telephone number," she told Ron, scribbling it twice, tearing the parchment in two, and handing it to them. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer — he'll know. Call me at the Dursley's, okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to…" **

"No, but that's how I met Gwen." Cris said.

"I would like to meet her." Hermione said.

"I'm sure that could be arranged." Lily J said with a secret smile.

"What do you mean? Your brother isn't going to bring her hear is he?" Hermione asked.

"Knowing James he would." Teddy said.

**"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?"**

**"Proud?" said Cris. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious…" **

"Sadly that's true." Lily said.

"She won't be going back to those abusive SOB's." Sirius said.

"Good," James said.

**And together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world. **

"Well that's the book." Sirius said closing it.

"Alright bed time," Mrs. Weasley said. The book disappeared and they all got up to go to bed. Nobody noticed that a note appeared but they will in the morning.


End file.
